InfraCredit, a ‘AAA’ rated specialised infrastructure credit guarantee institution has guaranteed Transport Services Limited’s (TSL) N12 billion 10-Year Series 1 Senior Guaranteed Fixed Rate Infrastructure Bonds Due 2030 (the TSL Bonds) under a N50 billion Debt Issuance Programme.
The TSL, co-founded by Ayodeji Wright and Wale Fatoki is a leading fully integrated transport and logistics company that delivers value added logistics and distribution services to a wide range of corporate and retail clientele in industries.
This include agro-processing, FMCG, oil and gas, cement, amongst others under fixed term contracts. TSL operates a fleet of over 840 vehicles covering 40 approved inter-state routes across multiple locations in Nigeria.
With the support of InfraCredit’s guarantee, the Series 1 Bonds was accorded a ‘AAA’ long term credit rating by Agusto and Co. and DataPro Limited, reflecting the high degree of creditworthiness and the strong credit quality.
The Series 1 Bonds was oversubscribed by 73.2% with firm commitments from eighteen (18) institutional investors including eleven (11) domestic pension funds. The transaction is the first 10-year bond issuance by any company in the transportation and logistics sector. The bond proceeds will be used to refinance its short-term loans to matching long term fixed rate debt that will sustainably support TSL’s consistent business growth and expansion plans.
In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO’) of Transport Services Ltd (TSL), Ayodeji Wright stated: “The TSL Bond was conceived few years ago and I am profoundly grateful to the entire Project 4 Transaction Parties, TSL Bond Investors and the Regulators, who have made this become a reality today. The successful issuance of the Bond is attributable to our relentless and collaborative efforts, underscored by our track record of excellence in 19 years of existence as an indigenous logistics and evolving mobility company.
Today, TSL remains committed to delivering its vision of providing bespoke supply chain and logistics solutions within Nigeria, and to sub-Saharan Africa. The TSL Bonds will undoubtedly be the springboard to provide the financial reinforcement to our business strategy, strong operating model and will in turn stimulate an atmosphere for a profitable growth over the next decade.
According to the CEO of InfraCredit, Chinua Azubike, “despite challenges brought by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, this achievement demonstrates InfraCredit’s continuing support for inclusive access to long term local currency finance for infrastructure development, and the deepening of the domestic debt capital markets with good quality asset classes for domestic investors.
TSL, over its 19-year history, has built a strong pedigree as a highly experienced and innovative transport and logistics service provider particularly in safety, maintenance, and journey administration. As we expand and diversify our guarantee portfolio to the transportation sector and given the importance of transport infrastructure to Nigeria’s economic recovery, we believe that our role remains vital in enabling businesses to deliver more essential infrastructure that can drive a clear and sustainable development impact on economic activities as well as improve the livelihoods of Nigerians”.
Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and ARM Securities Limited acted as joint Issuing Houses/Bookrunners for the transaction.
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