RenCap Hires Banker From CI Capital as It Opens Doors in Egypt

RenCap Hires Banker From CI Capital as It Opens Doors in Egypt

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Renaissance Capital, the investment bank controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, is hiring investment bankers and analysts in Egypt as more vibrant capital markets attract financial services firms to the country. Mohamed Younis will be chief executive officer of the investment bank in Egypt, said Ahmed Badr, RenCap’s CEO for the Middle East and North Africa. Younis, previously at CI Capital Holding, an arm of Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE, will…

Read More

Bond Winners of Yesteryear Not Looking So Fantastic in 2017

Bond Winners of Yesteryear Not Looking So Fantastic in 2017

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa ) – Developing-nation debt traders who stuck with 2016’s top securities took a hit this year. That’s because last year’s best emerging-market dollar bond bets are posting the starkest reversals. Venezuela, Ecuador and Gabon, which led the pack in 2016, had some of the worst changes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg on debt from 69 developing nations. Meanwhile, last year’s laggards, Mozambique and Suriname, have had the best improvements. “As the…

Read More

Spinoffs Drive South Africa Listings as Valuations Spur Sellers

Spinoffs Drive South Africa Listings as Valuations Spur Sellers

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s main stock exchange may witness the most new listings for at least two years in 2017, helped by a spate of spinoffs as owners look to tap a market trading near record highs. Of the 18 debuts this year, six are carved out of other companies, most of which are publicly traded. A further four new arrivals are backed by collections of investment holdings, rather than providing…

Read More

Seplat Sees Oil Drilling Ramp Up as Nigerian Security Stabilizes

Seplat Sees Oil Drilling Ramp Up as Nigerian Security Stabilizes

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Seplat Petroleum Development Co. expects to ramp up drilling operations in Nigeria next year after oil output recovered from militant attacks, according to Chief Executive Officer Austin Avuru. Production returned to a normal rate of around 70,000 barrels per day in 2017 as the company has been “catching our breath,” Avuru said Monday in an interview on the side-lines of the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town. “We should now…

Read More

Africa Drilling Lacking Despite Cheap Rigs, Higher Oil Price

Africa Drilling Lacking Despite Cheap Rigs, Higher Oil Price

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A recovery in oil and gas exploration in Africa is yet to happen, despite the best efforts of producing nations to raise prices. Only a dozen rigs were operational in African waters on average over the last year as saving cash remained a priority even for prolific explorers such as Italy’s Eni SpA. The rate of drilling this year is barely a 10th of the activity before the price…

Read More

Linde Eases Share Tender Requirements to Get Praxair Deal

Linde Eases Share Tender Requirements to Get Praxair Deal

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Linde AG, seeking to save a planned $41 billion tie up with Praxair Inc. to create the world’s biggest gases supplier, lowered the number of shares its investors need to tender for the deal to go through, after struggling to reach a previous requirement before a looming deadline. The new minimum threshold of 60 percent has to be reached by Nov. 7, the Munich-based company said in a statement on Monday. The previously-agreed condition was…

Read More

Fintech Firm FIS Is Ready If Bitcoin Trading Takes Off, CEO Says

Fintech Firm FIS Is Ready If Bitcoin Trading Takes Off, CEO Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The head of one of the largest U.S. financial technology firms said his company is ready to trade and settle cryptocurrencies as soon as banks demand it. Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which provides technology to thousands of U.S. lenders, has also been experimenting with blockchain, the distributed-ledger technology that processes cryptocurrency transactions, Chief Executive Officer Gary Norcross said Thursday in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York office. FIS, as the…

Read More
1 154 155 156 157 158 252