Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, today announced that they have raised R3.5bn for Mercedes-Benz South Africa, a unit of Daimler AG.

Werner Nel, Head of Debt Capital Markets at Absa Capital, said: “This is the largest single-day debt raising exercise by a corporate in the South African market this year. It’s a great success.”

Mercedes issued a 364-day, R1.5bn floating rate note and R2bn worth of 3-month commercial paper.

“This is more than we initially expected to raise so we are very pleased with the market appetite for this paper, especially given the current market environment,” said Nel.

Today’s debt raising exercise eclipsed Absa Capital’s R2.2bn issuance of Telkom bonds in April, the previous largest corporate debt raising exercise of 2008.

The funds raised are part of Mercedes-Benz’s R18bn DMTN programme and will be used to refinance existing debt and grow its financing activities.

Mercedes-Benz South Africa holds the franchise for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, commercial vehicles and buses, Freightliner and Western Star trucks, and Mitsubishi vehicles.

Deutsche Bank was the joint bookrunner alongside Absa Capital on the floating rate note tranche of the transaction.

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Note to the editor:

Absa Capital
Absa Capital, a division of Absa Bank Limited (Absa) and affiliated to Barclays Capital, is a leading South African investment bank with global reach, offering clients financing, risk management and advisory solutions in a wide range of currencies and structures across the globe.