Forte Oil, a leading Nigerian petroleum marketing company, has successfully raised N9 billion from a bond offering, according to a statement released on Friday.
According to the company, the fund will be used to refinance existing short term bank loans and fund retail outlet expansion.
“With the raising of this initial capital which has been fully underwritten shows the confidence the investing public has in Forte Oil Plc as an investment of choice,” said Akin Akinfemiwa, Forte Oil’s Group CEO.
“This bond programme being the first in the downstream sector, is testament to Forte’s position within the downstream sector and allows the company actualise the vision of the Board to continue to provide value to its shareholders regardless of the economic climate.”
The bond will be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the FMDQ OTC Exchange until its maturity date in 2021, the company said.
United Capital served as the lead financial advisor/issuing house on the bond offering while Boston Advisory, FBN Capital, Planet Capital, and Vetiva Capital Management served as joint financial advisors/issuing houses.
In nine months ended on September 30th this year, Forte Oil said revenue rose 32 percent year-on-year to N121.08 billion while pre-tax profit rose 7 percent year-on-year to N5.63 billion. As at 11.19am on Friday, Forte Oil’s stock traded at N82.67 per share, down 5 percent from the previous day’s close.
