Kenya finally settled its tender offer for its US$900m 7% 2027s, after an embarrassing hitch due to "unforeseen technical delays among banking intermediaries".

The tender was supposed to have settled on March 10. The following day, Kenya said it would settle instead on March 12. However on March 12, the government said the offer fully settled on March 11 and that the technical issues "have now been resolved".

A source said the hitch seemed "like a genuine issue with one of the banks not releasing funds in time for the clearinghouse to process".

Kenya (B–/B–) will buy back about US$580m of the May 2027s. Last month, the sovereign issued a US$1.5bn March 2036 amortising note, which has a weighted-average life of 10 years, as part of the liability management exercise.

Citigroup and Standard Bank were the lead managers on the new issue and dealer managers on the tender offer. Citibank was tender agent.

Source: IFR