Bondholders of Saderea, which was set up a decade ago to build hospitals in Ghana, have expressed disappointment at the lack of engagement from the Ghana authorities in restructuring their notes, despite the vanilla sovereign bonds completing their US$13bn restructuring this month.

The sovereign took two years to conclude negotiations with its external bondholders, which sees them exchange their existing notes for two sets of instruments, a “disco” bond with a nominal 37% haircut and a par bond capped at US$1.6bn.

However, so far an ad-hoc committee of holders of Saderea’s US$253m 12.5% 2026 bond issue, which is backed by the government and guaranteed by the central bank, said they had had little meaningful engagement with the government or central bank.

The committee represents investors holding 87% of the bonds by value and is advised by law firm Cleary Gottlieb. It said it had tried to engage with Ghana for more than a year.

“While the committee welcomes the recently announced exchange between Ghana and its conventional Eurobond bondholders, it is disappointed that it was not consulted, nor included in the negotiations, despite multiple attempts to engage with the authorities,” it said in a statement.

The committee said it had also put forward a proposal to “provide substantial discounts and cashflow relief” to the company.

The statement warned that the accumulation of arrears with private creditors, potential legal ramifications and the reputational damage Ghana might suffer as a result of the inaction might adversely affect its ability to access sources of external financing in future years at decent rates.

It said there were “no legal or other impediments to reaching a fair and equitable settlement of these claims following good faith negotiations”, but said it was prepared “to take all necessary legal actions to enforce its legal claims”.

A source close to the government said the authorities were aware of the situation.

Source: IFR