South Africa

Steinhoff International, the South African conglomerate, has opened the books on the IPO of Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star), a company formed from its African retail assets, which could value the business at up to R79.3bn ($6.1bn) if it is priced at the top of its range.

The summer lull is at an end and borrowers have sprung back into action. The BondMarker voters have delivered their verdict on which of last week's deals impressed.

In spite of the recent downgrade of South Africa and five of its largest banks, Standard Bank and Investec have received overwhelming demand from international banks for their loan financings.

Standard Bank has signed a $1bn syndicated loan with 43 banks on the ticket, marking another success for South Africa’s banking industry despite suffering rating downgrades earlier this year.

Investec has had an overwhelming response to its $300m loan, which was launched back in June, with 30 banks on the ticket taking commitments over $650m despite downgrades to the credit rating of both the borrower and its sovereign, South Africa.

South African lenders, Investec and Standard Bank’s loans are due to sign this week, along with United Biscuits' acquisition loan, which is expected to close tomorrow.

The autumn IPO season in EMEA got off to a promising start on Wednesday when Steinhoff International, the South Africa-based retail group, announced the launch of what will be one of the biggest IPOs on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in recent years. If the hospitable market conditions hold, bankers are confident that it will be the first of many important deals over the coming months, writes Aidan Gregory.

Two pieces of the autumn IPO jigsaw have been revealed this so far this week by intention to float announcements. The market has also gained visibility on yet another deal by a UK closed-end investment fund.

South Africa has had a bumpy ride this summer with the sovereign downgrade and the introduction of a new controversial mining charter in June. Despite that, the loan market has proved its resilience.

Resilient Reit, the South African real estate investment trust, completed an accelerated capital increase on Tuesday morning that was tripled in size due to the strength of the demand.

South African gold mining company Harmony Gold signed a $350m loan, making it the first in its industry to take out a loan since a new mining charter was introduced in June.

Standard Bank of South Africa is looking to raise funding in what will be its first international markets deal for 10 years, according to sources.