EBRD to invest EGP 1.5 bn in NUCA bond issuance
DEBT WATCH- EBRD to back NUCA bond issuance with EGP 1.5 bn investment: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest EGP 1.5 bn in the New Urban Communities Authority’s (NUCA) latest EGP 10 bn securitized bond issuance, it announced in a statement (pdf) to Enterprise yesterday. This brings the lender’s total investments in NUCA’s bond programme to EGP 3 bn, having invested EGP 1.5 bn in two offerings last year.
About the issuance: The three-tranche issuance is comprised of a EGP 2.6 bn, three-year offering; a EGP 6.2 bn, five-year offering; and a EGP 1.2 bn, seven-year offering. The bonds are backed by EGP 10 bn of receivables from private sector real estate developers. CIB, the National Bank of Egypt, AAIB and the Housing and Development Bank will manage the issuance. Dreny & Partners is providing legal counsel on the issuance.
In related news: The EBRD has agreed to finance the purchase or conversion of 200 buses to be powered by electricity or natural gas instead of diesel, Deputy Director to EBRD’s Egypt office Khaled Hamza told Masrawy, without disclosing how much the lender would provide for the project. The funds are being allocated as part of a EBRD initiative to channel money into clean energy and pollution reduction projects.
The bank may also participate in the government’s project to convert cars to run on natural gas, Hamza said. The government last week announced new incentives for people to outfit their vehicles with dual-fuel engines or trade in their old cars for new, natural gas-powered vehicles.