Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, acting as Sole Lead Arranger, has raised R128m in a high yield, unrated bond issuance for Simmer & Jack Mines Limited (Simmer & Jack). The bonds are the first high yield bonds to be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

This is the second high yield bond executed by Absa Capital in the last six months following the private placement of the Savcio Holdings high yield corporate bond issuance and marks the resurgence of the high yield bond market in South Africa.

Prasanna Nana, Head of the South African Debt Capital Markets team at Absa Capital, said: “The debt capital market in South Africa is increasingly becoming an important source of liquidity for a wider range of issuers in South Africa. We are pleased to have partnered with Simmer & Jack on their debut in the debt capital market.”

The bond was executed under a Domestic Medium Term Note (DMTN) programme that was established by Simmer & Jack.

“The deal was concluded in just four weeks, including establishing the DMTN, demonstrating that corporates can raise funding in the capital markets over a short period of time,” said Nana.

“We expect similar types of issuances to come to market as corporates continue to diversify their funding sources away from traditional bank lines and as the high yield market further develops in South Africa,” added Nana

This transaction further enhances Absa Capital’s position as the leading house in terms of placing high yield bonds in the capital markets.

Ends

About 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.

Absa Capital was rated the “Best Primary Markets House” in the 2009 JSE Spire Awards – one of nine first place rankings the firm secured at the awards.

About Simmer & Jack
Simmer & Jack is a mid-tier gold and uranium company with long-life assets in South Africa's Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga provinces. The Company has a 37% stake in gold and uranium miner, First Uranium Corporation Limited and is in the process of finalizing the acquisition of the Tau Lekoa mine from AngloGold Ashanti. The completion of this transaction will transform Simmers from a junior miner to the fourth largest producer of gold in South Africa.

Issued by:
FD
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, listed its NewGold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) today, as part of the firm’s overall strategy to expand it suite of products and services in sub-Saharan Africa.

This morning, 1.6 million NewGold securities were listed on the BSE.

The move represents a secondary listing for NewGold, South Africa’s largest ETF and the third largest gold ETF in the world. As at 12 July, NewGold’s assets under management were ZAR14.7bn.

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETF’s and Index Products at Absa Capital said: “Absa Capital is excited to list the first ETF on the Botswana Stock Exchange, allowing both individual and institutional investors direct access to an efficient and cost effective way to invest in gold through a listed security.”

“Historically, gold has demonstrated its role as an effective portfolio diversifier, a store of value and a safe haven investment in uncertain economic times, as well as an excellent currency hedge,” Nedeljkovic added.

The move is expected to help develop the investor market in Botswana by widening the choice of assets classes available to local investors, as well as to increase significantly the liquidity on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

Ends

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market, and has 56% of the market share based on assets under management. The investment bank has listed and operates 8 ETFs, including

• NewRand - the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index) comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate.
• NewGold - the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R14.7 billion in assets under management.
• NewSA - the first ETF that tracks the empowerments status of South Africa’s Blue Chip corporates,
• eRAFI™ family of ETFs - employing innovative fundamental valuation methodology to select its stock holdings
• Shari’ah Top 40 ETF - the first Shari’ah compliant equity ETF in South Africa.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.
www.absacapitaletfs.co.za

Issued by:
FD Media & Investor Relations
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic,
Head of ETF’s and Index Products
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 5367

Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, together with global affiliate Barclays Capital, recently won two awards at the prestigious Emeafinance magazine awards dinner in London.

Emeafinance is one the most authoritative financial magazines reporting on the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.

Absa Capital and Barclays Capital won Best Sovereign Bond deal for South Africa’s $1.5bn Eurobond issue on behalf of National Treasury as joint bookrunners for its 2009 issue.

Raj Shah, Head Diversified Industrial Clients & CGS, at Absa Capital said:” The deal was one of the most successful deals in South Africa's history. In the middle of a global economic crisis and change in the country's leadership, it was five times oversubscribed.”

He added that it illustrated the ‘fully local, fully global’ synergies Absa Capital and Barclays Capital offers to clients.

The second honour was for the Best Project Finance Deal for Ghana’s Jubilee oil field.

Shah added that he expects Absa Capital and Barclays Capital to be involved in more cross border deals in the coming year.

Ends

Note to the editor:

About 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.

Issued by:

FD Media & Investor Relations
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, acting as Sole Lead Arranger, raised R2.5bn for BMW Financial Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd in their inaugural bond issue on June 15, 2010. This capital raising exercise marks the largest listed bond issue in the South African debt capital markets since October 2008.

BMW Financial Services SA issued three bonds guaranteed by BMW AG - rated zaAA+ by Standard & Poors - in the 1-year, 2-year and 3-year maturities through an auction that was 2.1 times oversubscribed.

A total of 20 investors bid for notes in the auction, resulting in significant demand and favourable pricing across the three tranches. The pricing achieved by BMW SA is highly attractive for the BMW Group as funding was raised at levels inside the current BMW Euro bond levels.

The ZAR bond market provided the BMW Group with diversification to its existing global funding base and access to the top South African investors.

Prasanna Nana, Head of the South African Debt Capital Markets team at Absa Capital, said: “We are extremely pleased to have raised these funds for BMW Financial Services SA.”

“The positive response from the market was overwhelming, bearing testament to the high demand for strong credits such as BMW,” said Nana.

The competitive pricing achieved by BMW Financial Services SA is further evidence of the resilience of the South African market to global market volatility.

This transaction led by Absa Capital, with support from Barclays Capital, and working together with BMW AG and BMW Financial Services SA, highlights yet again what can be achieved by a fully local and fully global investment bank.

Absa Capital through Barclays Capital was also able to garner international investor interest in the domestic issuance.

ENDS

About 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.

Absa Capital was rated the “Best Primary Markets House” in the November 2009 JSE Spire Awards – one of nine first place rankings the firm secured at the awards.

Issued by:
FD
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

A consortium consisting of Absa Capital/Barclays Bank Zambia PLC, Citibank N.A. and Standard Chartered Bank Zambia Plc acted as joint bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers for the raising of ZMK400bn Term and Revolving Credit Facilities on behalf of Zambian Breweries (ZamBrew).

ZamBrew is the Zambian subsidiary of SABMiller plc (SABMiller).

The Facilities, which are guaranteed by SABMiller, will be used to refinance certain existing bank facilities, for general corporate purposes and to support ZamBrew's capital expenditures programme. The Facilities are split between a c.a. ZMK340bn term loan and c.a. ZMK60bn revolving credit facility. Both tranches have a three year tenor.

The transaction was launched at ZMK300bn but received commitments well in excess with ZamBrew electing to take up ZMK400bn.

Access Bank Zambia Limited, African Life Financial Services (Zambia) Limited, Bank of China (Zambia) Limited, Citibank Zambia Limited, First National Bank Zambia Limited Investrust Bank PLC, Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited, The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, and Zambia National Commercial Bank PLC joined the transaction during general syndication. Standard Chartered Bank, London acted as agent bank with Chibesakunda & Co and Clifford Chance LLP acting as legal advisors to the Bookrunners.

This transaction represents the first syndicated loan for ZamBrew.

Ends…

About ZamBrew
ZamBrew is an 86.5% owned subsidiary of SABM. Based in Lusaka, ZamBrew’s core activities include the production and distribution of clear beer and soft drinks. SABM was founded in 1895, and is now one of the world’s largest brewers by volume. SABM has brewing interests and distribution agreements across six continents, producing and distributing a large variety of brands in over 60 countries. It is also one of the world’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products.

Issued by:
FD
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

• Gain for investors
• eRAFI™ ETFs far outperform their benchmarks

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of the Absa Group Ltd (Absa), announced today that as from June 1, it will slash the basic management fee on its eRAFI™ series of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that weight shares based on fundamental valuation metrics.

The basic fee currently charged is on average 75-80 basis points per annum depending on the portfolio and the investor holdings. It will be replaced with a basic fee on a cost recovery basis taking into account only the direct operational costs of the eRAFI™ ETFs. This will result in an immediate saving for the investors of 20-25 basis points (0.20-0.25%) per annum.

These savings will further increase with the increase in the size of the eRAFI™ portfolios.

The current performance fee of 20% of the amount by which the eRAFI™ ETFs out-perform their benchmarks will remain unchanged. If in any year an eRAFI™ ETF doesn’t outperform its benchmark, investors will ‘claw back’ returns and only pay a performance fee after they have made up the underperformance.

Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital, said: “We don’t believe investors should ever pay for anything other than out-performance and for direct costs for running the funds.”

“We are confident that the eRAFI™ will deliver superior returns so we are putting our money where our mouth is and basing our fees on superior returns.”

According to Nedeljkovic, since the launch of eRAFI™ Overall ETF in June 2008 and the subsequent three Sector eRAFI™ ETFs in June 2009, institutional and private investors have poured about R209m into the eRAFI™ ETFs, because of their superior stock weighing methodology that has seen them deliver better returns than traditional market capitalisation ETFs – and with lower volatility.

The eRAFI™ indices tracked by eRAFI™ ETFs are compiled using the innovative enhanced Research Affiliates Fundamental Index™ (eRAFI™) approach to portfolio construction pioneered by California-based Research Affiliates.

“The problem with market capitalisation method of indexing is that it overweights stocks that are overvalued and underweights stocks that are undervalued, the opposite of good investment practice,” said Nedeljkovic.

The eRAFI™ ETF methodology weights shares based on fundamental valuation metrics - sales, cash flow, book price and dividends - rather than market capitalisation.

The eRAFI™ Overall SA ETF has outperformed its benchmark JSE All Share Index by 11.92% on an annualised basis since inception in June 2008. Since their inception in June 2009, Sector eRAFI™ indices – Industrial 25, Financial 15 and Resources 20 outperformed their respective benchmarks by 4.53%, 4.82% and 6.71% on an annualised basis.

Internationally, RAFI™ strategies have outperformed cap-weighted index strategies by more than 2.5% per annum in over 23 mature stock markets, and significantly more in emerging markets over extended measurement periods, noted Nedeljkovic.

In the US domestic markets, for example, RAFI™ strategies outperformed cap-weighted index portfolios, both large and small stocks, by just over 200 basis points (2%) per year with slightly lower volatility.

Furthermore, across international markets RAFI™ portfolios outperformed cap-weighted index portfolios by an average of 557 basis points (5.57%) per annum, also with slightly lower volatility.

Absa Capital, together with local investment manager Plexus Asset Management, exclusively manage the eRAFI™ ETF in South Africa.

“The eRAFI™ methodology provides all the benefits of traditional market capitalisation-weighted indices, including diversification, liquidity, low turnover and competitive fees, while generating incrementally higher returns with lower volatility,” said Nedeljkovic.

ENDS…

Notes to editor:

Exchange traded funds are open-ended collective investment schemes that are listed on a stock exchange and can be traded at any time during the day. Absa Capital is a leading originator of ETFs in the South African market.

The eRAFI™ Overall ETF comprises of 40 shares selected using the RAFI™ fundamental selection criteria from the JSE top 100 shares based on market capitalisation and the portfolio will be rebalanced quarterly.

In addition, three other eRAFI™ ETFs are offered: eRAFI™ Financial 15, eRAFI™ Industrial 25 and eRAFI™ Resource 25, tracking the respective FTSE/JSE sector indices.

The ‘e’ in eRAFI™ stands for enhanced. The eRAFI™ ETFs are rebalanced quarterly as opposed to the Satrix RAFI 40 ETF which is rebalanced annually. The eRAFI™ indices are price indices meaning that all dividends are paid out by the portfolio on a quarterly basis. An investor has the option each quarter to receive dividends or alternatively they can re-invest these dividends back into the ETF. The Satrix RAFI 40 ETF is a total return index meaning that all dividends are automatically re-invested into the index.

The eRAFI™ ETFs have two additional screening criteria (debt coverage ratio and net operating assets) that are utilised to discount the original fundamental score/weight that was obtained applying the four factors (revenue, cash flow, book to equity and dividend). These are used to reduce weightings of companies in the index which engage in aggressive accounting practices or may be laden with debt.

www.absacapitaletfs.co.za

Issued by:
FD Media & Investor Relations
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2400
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd (Absa), today announced its intention to enter into a business cooperation agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), subject to the finalization of terms.

Under the terms of the agreement Absa Capital will provide investment banking products and services to SMBC clients active in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

Says Stephen van Coller, Chief Executive of Absa Capital: “This is an exciting win-win strategic venture. It gives Absa Capital access to an extended client base and SMBC the ability to offer their clients a world-class, full service investment banking offering in sub-Saharan Africa.”

“Furthermore, together with SMBC we can explore other joint business development opportunities.”

Ends...

Note to the editor

About 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.

About Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, one of the world's largest commercial banks, provides an extensive range of wholesale and retail banking services in Japan and abroad. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is part of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group which is quoted in Tokyo. For more information visit: http://www.smbc.co.jp/aboutus/english/index.html

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today that it had successfully placed R750 million OntheCards II Investments (Pty) Ltd (OTC II) Class A notes in the domestic debt capital market. Leading South African retailer Edcon (Pty) Ltd's store card receivables back the notes.

This follows the successful placement of R1 billion listed and R3.4 billion unlisted notes in 2009, totalling R4.4 billion. The proceeds from the newly issued Class A notes were used to partially redeem a portion of the unlisted notes issued during 2009.

Notes with 3 and 4 year scheduled maturities were placed with domestic asset managers at competitive credit spreads thereby extending OTC II’s funding profile while also reducing the overall funding cost.

Commenting on the transaction, Steve Binnie, Chief Financial Officer of Edcon, said: “The success of this transaction once again emphasises the strong credit quality of Edcon. We believe that the South African securitisation market will continue to provide a viable funding source to Edcon going forward and we are excited about the prospects for future issuance."

This transaction further entrenches Absa Capital’s position as the top rated primary markets house* and leading arranger of debt capital market transactions in South Africa.

“This transaction builds on the number of successful securitisations arranged by Absa Capital in 2009,” said Nyagaka Ongeri, Head of Global Finance at Absa Capital.

“The transaction was subscribed for by a diverse investor base at improved credit spreads which bodes well for the securitisation market in 2010,” said Ongeri.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s have assigned zaAAA ratings to the Class A5 and Class A6 notes and affirmed the rating of the existing Class A notes at zaAAA and Class B notes at zaA.

*Absa Capital was rated the ‘Best primary markets house’ in the 2009 JSE Spire Awards – one of nine first place rankings the firm secured at the awards.

ENDS…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, has appointed Andrew McNulty to head up its new Equities Research division as it expands its overall offering to its clients.

McNulty will join Absa Capital in April from BJM Securities where he was CEO and Head of Research.

At Absa Capital, McNulty will run a full service research team in South Africa that will be completely integrated and aligned with global affiliate Barclays Capital’s research team.

Initially McNulty will be responsible for shaping the division by recruiting a number of analysts with the goal of building a top ranked research team focusing on JSE listed equities.

“The recruitment of Andrew is a major coup for Absa Capital,” said Andrew Selby, Head of Sales and Research at Absa Capital.

“Andrew’s dynamism and outstanding experience will help strengthen Absa Capital’s capabilities and further underscore our credentials as the leading investment bank in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Selby.

McNulty has held leading positions in the equities space both in South Africa and the UK. He was previously head of UBS’s Pan-European Insurance Research Team in London and a Life Assurance Analyst with the same company in South Africa. He was also head of financials research at Investec in Johannesburg.

McNulty has obtained a number of top accolades in the equity research field, including top rankings as an analyst locally and in the UK, as well as leading the BJM Securities’ research team to successive years of being ranked the top equity research house.

-Ends-

Note to the editor:

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.

Issued by:
FD Media & Investor Relations
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
grant.henry@fd.com

Further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

• Absa Capital successfully executes the inaugural domestic high yield bond issue for Savcio Holdings (Pty) Ltd (“Savcio”)
• Transaction demonstrates the value of innovative thinking in rejuvenating the high yield market

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today that it had executed Savcio’s first high yield corporate bond issuance as part of that company’s domestic medium term note programme

The bonds were issued from Savcio’s domestic medium term note programme, which is listed on the bond market of the JSE, and provides a fillip for high yield corporate bond issuance in South Africa.

Bevan Hitchcock, Deputy CEO of Savcio, said: “We are excited we were able to raise the funding at competitive rates in the local debt capital markets which we see as a viable future source of liquidity.”

“The funds were used to partially fund the buy-back of our Euro denominated notes which were tendered on 1 December 2009.”

The Savcio bond issuance locally, and tender of the Euro denominated bonds, was a joint and simultaneous effort between Absa Capital and Barclays Capital - Absa Capital’s global affiliate.

Commenting on the joint and simultaneous effort, Nyagaka Ongeri, Head of Global Finance at Absa Capital said that it underscores what can be achieved by a fully local, fully global investment bank.

Further the transaction demonstrates the value of innovative thinking in rejuvenating the high yield market.

“Absa Capital has executed numerous innovative transactions from various asset classes this year in challenging market conditions,” said Ongeri.

“The bonds were oversubscribed, which is very encouraging as the South African high yield corporate bond market has been slow to take off,” said Clinton Clarke, Head of Fixed Income Sales at Absa Capital.

According to Clarke the deal indicates that investors have a strong appetite for good quality, non-investment grade issuers and could pave the way for more high yield issuance.

Simon Howie, Senior Portfolio Manager at Investec Asset Management said: “We were delighted to have played such an active role as the lead investor in this innovative transaction and are excited about the future prospects for the high yield market in South Africa.”

This latest high yield bond issuance further cements Absa Capital’s position as the top rated primary markets house* and leading arranger of debt capital market transactions in South Africa

*Absa Capital was rated the ‘Best primary markets house’ in the 2009 JSE Spire Awards – one of nine first place rankings the firm secured at the awards.

ENDS…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Media and Investor Relations
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
Grant.Henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today that it had raised a further R3.3 billion for Edcon (Pty) Ltd under the OntheCards Investments receivables securitisation. This follows the successful placing of R1 billion in listed notes in August 2009.

This deal completes the re-financing of receivables-backed facilities Edcon established in 2007. The transaction was oversubscribed. Notes were privately placed, with domestic and international investors, and are scheduled to mature in October 2012.

Commenting on the transaction, Steve Binnie, Chief Financial Officer of Edcon, said: “This transaction further emphasises the strong credit quality of Edcon. The securitisation market in South Africa has provided Edcon with an affordable source of funding and enabled Edcon to secure financing using its high-quality receivables book."

This transaction further entrenches Absa Capital’s position as the top rated primary markets house* and leading arranger of debt capital market transactions in South Africa.

“Absa Capital arranged a number of securitisations in 2009 representing transactions from three different asset classes,” said Nyagaka Ongeri, Head of Global Finance at Absa Capital.

“This transaction, tapping the OntheCards Investments II programme listed on the bond market of the JSE, in August, was subscribed for by an extensive and diverse investor base.”

“This indicates that the debt capital markets remain a viable source of funding for quality transactions backed by high quality assets, and bodes well for 2010,” said Ongeri.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s have assigned zaAAA ratings to the Class A notes (R3.25 billion) while the Class B notes (R128 million) were assigned a zaA rating.

*Absa Capital was rated the ‘Best primary markets house’ in the 2009 JSE Spire Awards – one of nine first place rankings the firm secured at the awards.

ENDS…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
Grant.Henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Hot on the heels of its dominant performance at the JSE Spire Awards, Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, has taken top honours again with Diteboho Khumalo being recognised as the Top Dealer at the 7th ABSIP Financial Sector Awards.

Khumalo won the Top Dealer in Equities/Derivatives/Fixed Income Category. This category recognises a black professional who has consistently delivered against their clients’ mandate of best practice and best execution. The recipient is also expected, by ABSIP, to have the highest level of ethics and professionalism.

“I am very pleased that Diteboho has been recognized in this fashion, as it speaks directly to our desire to attract (and retain) the top talent in the market and remain relevant to our clients,” said Stephen van Coller, Chief Executive of Absa Capital.

“Furthermore, Diteboho’s efforts need to be seen in the context of a winning team. The Fixed Income Sales team has recently received widespread recognition in the UK Banker Awards as well as demonstrating an outstanding performance at the JSE Spire Awards,” added van Coller.

In addition, Justin Ma was shortlisted in the top three of the most hotly contested category within the ABSIP awards – the Top Emerging Talent Award.

These accolades support Absa Capital’s ambition of becoming the leading investment bank in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP) was established in 1995 to address the apparent lack of representation of black professional in the securities and investment industry.

Ends…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Media & Investor Relations
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Absa Capital
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, has taken top honours in the annual JSE Spire Awards. Demonstrating a very impressive performance, Absa Capital excelled in the awards taking first place in nine out of the 15 categories that the investment bank was eligible to enter.

Wins include overall best fixed income house; best bond trading house; best derivatives trading house; best bond sales team; best bond price making team; best interest-rate derivatives trading team; best interest-rate derivatives sales and structuring team; best credit analyst and best primary markets house.

Absa Capital was recognised for these nine awards largely for its trading and sales capability.

In addition, Absa Capital also performed strongly in the best research house; best technical analyst and best inflation-linked debt house categories.

Best debt issue went to the South African National Roads Agency Limited in which Absa Capital played an instrumental role.

Says Stephen van Coller, CEO for Absa Capital: “In a difficult economic environment we have excelled in the South African fixed income market this year. We are delighted to feature prominently across so many of the Spire Award categories. I am particularly pleased with the fact that we dominated the bond, derivative sales and trading categories. These awards entrench us as leaders in this field demonstrating our innovative approach and commitment to the market.”

These accolades come hot on the heels of Absa Capital achieving first place in the interest rates category in this year’s Risk Magazine survey as well as taking top honours in the UK Banker Awards for Most Innovative for Inflation Linked Products last month, in affiliation with global partner Barclays Capital. This kudos supports Absa Capital’s ambition of becoming the leading investment bank in sub Saharan Africa.

The JSE Spire Awards is an annual event and recognises those individuals and teams who have used talent, intelligence and commitment to contribute to the fixed income market in South Africa.

Ends

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Media & Investor Relations
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Absa Capital
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Largest ever Ugandan Corporate syndicated loan and a world first in the syndicated loan market.

Kampala, Uganda, 19 October 2009 – Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Limited (“Absa Capital”) as sole Global-Coordinator, together with Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited, KCB Bank Uganda Limited, Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited and Standard Chartered Bank Uganda Limited as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners have signed a USD 100 million equivalent multi-tranche, local and foreign currency syndicated term loan and revolving facilities (the “Facilities”) for MTN Uganda Limited. The Facilities were issued under an innovative structure similar to a Medium Term Note Program used for the issuance of bond securities. The structure allows MTN Uganda to enter into USD 150 million equivalent of senior secured facilities on an ongoing basis and is a first in the syndicated loans market.

The Facilities are split between a UGX 118,800,000,000 5-year local currency term loan tranche (USD 60 million equivalent), a USD 20 million 5-year term loan tranche and a UGX 39,600,000,000 5-year revolving credit facility (USD 20 million equivalent).

Standard Chartered Bank was appointed as Global Facility Agent and Security Agent for the MTLP. Africa Legal, the cross-border division of the South African law firm Deneys Reitz, acted as English law lead counsel to the Global-Coordinator and the Mandated Lead Arrangers, together with Ugandan law firm Shonubi, Musoke & Co Advocates as a local counsel. Webber Wentzel, together with local advisors, Kampala Associated Advocates, acted as legal advisors to MTN Uganda.

This is the largest syndicated loan for a Ugandan corporate borrower to date. The facility was well subscribed by 11 domestic, regional and international financial institutions participating in the facility with the following institutions joining the transaction at the general syndication stage: Bank of Africa Uganda Limited; Barclays Bank of Kenya Limited; Citibank Uganda Limited; DFCU Bank Limited; Ecobank Uganda Limited; Orient Bank Limited and United Bank for Africa Uganda Limited.

The innovative structure addresses the need for strong local corporate credits in the Sub-Saharan Africa syndicated loan market to manage their funding needs and avoid frequent refinancing and associated costs as additional debt funding becomes available – allowing corporate issuers to maintain an optimal and efficient capital structure.

MTN Uganda established the Facilities to finance its capital expenditure and working capital requirements and to further develop its banking relationships.

“The loan facility is an indication of the confidence that banks have in our company. It also reflects the confidence that the financial sector has in the Ugandan economy and the prospects of the Ugandan telecommunication sector,” said Nigel Williams, Financial Director of MTN Uganda.

Established in April 1998, MTN Uganda operates both fixed and mobile telephone networks. Since inception, MTN Uganda has grown and continues to be a leading mobile operator in Uganda with a market share of approximately 50%. MTN Uganda is approximately 96% owned by MTN group and approximately 4% owned by Invesco Uganda Limited.

Absa Capital’s NewGold ETF (NewGold), the largest exchange traded fund (ETF) in South Africa, reached its latest milestone by exceeding 50 tonnes of gold bullion in assets.

This follows today’s listing of an additional 3,200,000 NewGold debentures taking NewGold’s holdings to 52.584 tonnes (or 1,690,614.584 ounces) of gold bullion.

At current market rates, NewGold’s Net Asset Value is approximately R12,9bn or $1,7bn. NewGold assets under management first broke the $1bn mark only three months ago.

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETF’s and Index Products at Absa Capital, said that the strong gold price and ongoing investor caution continued to drive interest in NewGold.

“Investors are favouring direct investment in gold as it is less volatile and better performing than investment in gold shares,” said Nedeljkovic.

Designed by Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, NewGold invests directly in gold, tracks the price of gold and creates an investment tool to allow institutional and retail investors to invest in a liquid, listed instrument that is fully backed by gold bullion.

NewGold was launched in November 2004 with assets under management of just under R250m.
Ends…

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products

www.absacapitaletfs.co.za

Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The investment bank listed and operates:

• NewRand - the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate)
• NewGold - the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R12,9 billion in assets under management.
• NewSA - the first ETF that tracks the empowerments status of SA’s Blue chip corporates,
• eRAFITM ETF which selects 40 shares of the JSE top 100 based on fundamental valuation criteria
• Shari’ah Top 40 ETF - the first Shari’ah compliant ETF in South Africa.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic,
Head of ETF’s and Index products
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 5367

Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, has again excelled in the annual Risk magazine survey for 2009 by achieving first place in the Interest Rates category, up from second in 2008.

Absa Capital was also ranked second overall across all categories; the same position it achieved last year but by a narrower margin of only 0.2% between itself and the first placed bank.

Risk magazine is the world's leading financial risk management magazine and its highly influential survey forms part of a series of surveys conducted across a range of sectors in the financial and capital markets.

Andrew Selby, Head of Sales and Research at Absa Capital, said that the firm also recorded five ‘first’ positions in the surveyed categories, namely: Interest Rate Options; Repurchase Agreements; Forward Rate Agreements; Exotic Equity Options; and Exchange Traded Funds.

"These pleasing results reflect our client-centric focus and our innovative product offering. Our ambition remains to be the leading investment bank in sub-Saharan Africa and we believe that, through results such as these, we are even closer to closing the gap on the overall number one spot,” said Selby.

Absa Capital was also recently ranked second in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Banking Peer Review Survey in the Money Markets, Derivatives and Fixed Income category as well as second in the Euromoney FX Survey in the South African Rand category.

Ends…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Group Limited announced today that Stephen van Coller has been appointed Chief Executive of Absa Capital.

Van Coller, previously Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Investment Banking at Absa Capital, takes over from John Vitalo on 1 October 2009. Vitalo has been responsible for Wealth in South Africa since 2008 and Chief Executive of Absa Capital since 2005, having joined from Barclays Capital.

Van Coller joined Absa Capital in September 2006 as Head of Primary Markets. He was later appointed Head of Investment Banking and more recently Deputy Chief Executive of Absa Capital and an Absa Group Executive Committee member in May 2009.

Van Coller will report jointly to Maria Ramos, Group Chief Executive of Absa Group, and to Benoit de Vitry, Head of Global Markets – Trading, Europe and Head of Commodities and Emerging Markets, Barclays Capital.

Vitalo was appointed Chief Executive of Barclays Investment Banking and Investment Management (IBIM) for the Middle East and North Africa in May this year in addition to his previous role as Chief Executive of Absa Capital.

He has agreed to continue his involvement with Absa as a special advisor to the Absa Group Chief Executive. He will also be part of the Barclays Capital senior management team managing its African operations.

“John has made an invaluable contribution making Absa Capital the top-tier Sub-Saharan investment bank, leveraging the strengths of Barclays Capital and Absa Group. As a consequence of those achievements, Absa Capital’s success is a benchmark for our Local Markets businesses,” said Benoit de Vitry.

“I am delighted to have someone with Stephen’s expertise and market knowledge to build on all that Absa Capital has achieved under John’s leadership. As one of the leading investment banks in sub-Saharan Africa, Absa Capital is an ongoing high priority for Absa Group and Barclays,” said Maria Ramos.

Issued by:
Absa Group Marketing and Corporate Affairs

About Absa
The Absa Group Limited (Absa), listed on the JSE Limited, is one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups offering a complete range of banking, bancassurance and wealth management products and services. Absa's business is conducted primarily in South Africa.
In addition to this, the Group has equity holdings in banks in Mozambique and Tanzania.
At 30 June 2009, the Group had 718,2 million shares in issue and a market capitalisation of R79 billion.

At 30 June 2009, Absa had assets of R754,3 billion, 11,3 million customers, 9 211 automated teller machines and 36 920 permanent employees.
Absa is a subsidiary of Barclays Bank plc, which holds a stake of 55,6% in the Group.
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia.

For more information, please visit the Absa website: www.absa.co.za

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today the appointment of Nyagaka Ongeri as Head of Global Finance and Risk Solutions within its Investment Banking division.

Prior to joining Absa Capital, Ongeri was a managing director at Barclays Capital in New York within the Debt Capital Markets Group. He joined Barclays Capital in 2001 to focus on growing the firm’s US presence in the financial institutions space.

In his new position as Head of Global Finance and Risk Solutions, Ongeri will be responsible for five key areas: Global Loans; Debt Capital Markets; Equity Capital Markets; Risk Solutions and Capital Structure; and Ratings Advisory Services.

Commenting on the announcement Stephen van Coller, Deputy CEO of Absa Capital said: “I am very pleased to welcome Nyagaka to the team. He comes with strong credentials and experience from our affiliate, Barclays Capital, in New York, and is well positioned to drive, grow and increase Absa Capital’s footprint in the global finance arena.”

Prior to moving to New York Ongeri had worked in the South African capital markets for four years.
Ongeri is a graduate of Howard University where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours). He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School.

Ends…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Communications Manager
+27 11 895 9798
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today that it had raised R1.0bn for Edcon (Pty) Ltd in the largest securitisation deal in the South African market since August 2008.

Absa Capital and Edcon raised the funds through the issuance of a combination of one-year (R445m) and three-year (R555m) asset backed securitised Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) listed notes. The deal was oversubscribed.

The notes were issued through the ‘On-The-Cards II’ structure and are backed by a portion of Edcon’s store card receivables.

Jacques Els, Head of Debt Capital Markets at Absa Capital, said the transaction proved that the local securitisation market was coming back to life - evidenced by the fact that 12 different investors participated in this landmark deal.

“The strong interest from a diverse investor base bears testimony to investors’ positive view of the strong credit quality of both Edcon as a company, as well as the underlying asset pool,” said Steve Binnie, Chief Financial Officer of Edcon.

This deal is Absa Capital’s third securitisation deal of 2009 having recently raised R784m for Eskom Finance Company, through a residential mortgage backed securitisation, and a further R150m for Vukile Investment Property Securitisation, via a commercial mortgage backed securitization.

“Outside of Eskom Finance Company, Vukile Investment Property Securitisation and now Edcon, no other securitisation deals have been done in South Africa so far this year,” said Stephen van Coller, Deputy CEO of Absa Capital. “Today’s announcement further enhances Absa Capital’s reputation as the leader in the local debt capital market.”

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s have assigned zaAAA ratings to all 4 tranches of the Edcon notes in this transaction.

ENDS…

About 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.

Issued by:
FDBeachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Jacques Els
Head: Debt Capital Markets
+27 11 895 7057


Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Country’s largest ETF sets new high water mark

South Africa’s largest Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), Absa Capital’s NewGold ETF (NewGold), today reached yet another milestone only weeks after a similar announcement.

NewGold, the only commodity ETF in the local market, announced that it had attracted in excess of R10bn in assets under management, following the listing of an additional 7,600,000 NewGold debentures.

NewGold invests directly in gold and tracks the gold price. Designed by Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd and the leading originator of ETFs in South Africa, NewGold is an investment tool that allows institutional and retail investors to invest in a liquid, listed instrument that is fully backed by gold bullion.

Today’s announcement follows the early June milestone when NewGold cracked through the $1bn mark of assets under management (R8.4bn at the exchange rate of R8.40 to the US dollar at the time).

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital, said that since it launched, in November 2004, NewGold’s assets had grown manifold and that he expected further flows into the popular investment product.

Accounting for the strong inflows of over R1bn into the fund over the past month and a half, Nedeljkovic said: “The poor economic outlook and general market instability are making investors the world over seek out the comfort of gold. Gold is often less volatile and can be better performing than investing in gold shares.”

Ends

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The firm listed and operates:

• NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate)
• NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R10 billion in assets under management.
  
• NewSA, the first ETF that tracks the empowerment status of South Africa’s Blue Chip corporates
• eRAFI™ the first ETF in South Africa to use an innovative enhanced fundamental indexing approach to portfolio construction
• Shari’ah 40, the first Shari’ah compliant equity-linked ETF in South Africa.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

www.absacapitaletfs.com

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of the Absa Group, was recognised as the best debt house in Africa in the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2009.

Stephen van Coller, Deputy CEO and Head of Investment Banking at Absa Capital said the company was honoured to receive the award for best debt house as it underlined the strength and success of the Debt Capital Markets and Global Loans teams.

“Absa Capital was a bookrunner on three of the biggest bond deals of the last year including for City of Cape Town, Airports Company of South Africa and black empowerment group Barloworld.”

Aside from underwriting the only international bond, Absa Capital did the highest volume and the second-highest number of bonds.

In addition, in May this year Absa Capital raised R760m in the year’s first securitization deal for Eskom Finance Company Pty Ltd.

Ends…

About 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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Absa Capital
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd (Absa), and Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays PLC, today announced the relaunch of their South Africa Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index as the Barclays Capital/Absa South Africa Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index.

The product is part of the Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index (EMGILB) which measures the total return performance of inflation-linked bonds from the major emerging market countries.

The Barclays Capital/Absa South Africa Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index consists of four bonds which make up 7% of the Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index and 1% of the Universal Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index.

Pricing for the bonds will be provided by Absa Capital.

Wayne Dennehy, Head of Institutional Structuring at Absa Capital said: “The Barclays Capital/Absa South Africa Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index is designed to provide investors with an accurate benchmark for performance measurement, and offers discrete building blocks for market analysis and portfolio construction.”

“The index provides an accurate, comprehensive depiction of the performance and fundamental characteristics of the South Africa Government inflation-linked bond market and is a sub-set of the Emerging Markets Government Inflation-Linked and Universal Government Inflation Indices.”

Waqas Samad, Head of Index Products and POINT at Barclays Capital, said: “Investors need a reliable benchmark, and as the global leader in inflation-linked trading, products and indices, we are ideally placed to satisfy that demand.”

“Absa Capital has a strong fixed income franchise in South Africa, and our partnership in this product gives us a platform to provide investors with the best benchmark.”

ENDS…

About Absa Capital
Absa Capital, a division of Absa Bank Limited (Absa) and affiliated with 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.

About Barclays Capital
Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with a full spectrum of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices around the world, employs 20,000 people and has the global reach, advisory services and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide.

About the Barclays Capital EMGILB indices
The Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Government Inflation Linked Bond Index (EMGILB) measures the total return performance of inflation-linked bonds from the major emerging market countries. The index includes government debt i.e. direct obligations of the state issuer. Quasi-government and corporate debt is not included in the index.

The index currently consists of 60 bonds from nine countries and has an overall market capitalisation of around $213 billion. The 5 LATAM markets account for around 85% of the overall index capitalisation. Brazil is the largest market with a weight of approximately 62%.

Issued by:

FD Beachhead
Jennifer Cohen
+27 11 214 2401
+27 82 468 6469
jennifer.cohen@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Industrial 25, Resource 20 and Financial 15 eRAFI™ to list on 15 June

In yet a further innovation for the local Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market Absa Capital, in partnership with local investment manager Plexus Asset Management, today announced that they will be listing South Africa’s first sector ETFs based on the groundbreaking eRAFI™ methodology. It weights shares based on fundamental valuation metrics.

Three new ETFs – eRAFI™ SA Industrial 25, eRAFI™ SA Resource 20 and eRAFI™ SA Financial 15 - will simultaneously list on the JSE on June 15.

This issuance follows the successful JSE listing last year of South Africa’s first eRAFI™ ETF by Absa Capital, South Africa’s leading originator of ETFs, also in partnership with Plexus Asset Management.

Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital, said that sector ETFs will allow institutional and private investors to invest in the best companies in the industrial, resources and financial sectors at a very low cost based on proven valuation criteria.

“Stocks are weighted on six measure of economic value: book equity value; cash flow; sales; gross dividends; net operating assets; and the debt coverage ratio. Portfolios are rebalanced quarterly.

According to Nedeljkovic by avoiding the inherent valuation bias of capitalisation weighting of other ETFs, eRAFI™ strategies over the long run outperform market capitalisation weighted index strategies, at lower risk levels.

Paul Stewart, Managing Director of Plexus Asset Management who hold the eRAFI™ licence in SA, believes that the eRAFI™ methodology is rapidly growing in popularity across the world because of the advantages fundamental index trackers have over traditional methods of indexing.

“The eRAFI™ methodology overcomes the inherent problems with the market capitalisation method of indexing in that it overweights stocks that are overvalued in the market and underweights stocks that are undervalued – the opposite of good investment practice,” said Stewart.

Stewart also noted that private and institutional investors - especially pension funds - are increasingly warming up to the advantages of passive index trackers.

“We expect that there will be a proliferation in both the number of ETFs listed on the JSE as well as the amount of money invested in these products over the next few years and we want to ensure South Africans have access to the best international products and thinking,” said Nedeljkovic.

All eRAFI™ ETFs are open ended, structured as portfolios within NewFunds Collective Investment they are listed on the JSE and can be traded anytime during normal trading hours.

ENDS…

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products

Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The firm listed and operates:

• NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate)
• NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with [R8.1] billion in assets under management.
• NewSA, the first ETF that tracks the empowerments status of South Africa’s Blue Chip corporates
• eRAFI™ ETF, the first ETF in South Africa using an innovative enhanced fundamental indexing approach to portfolio construction.
• Shari’ah Top 40 ETF, the first Shari’ah compliant ETF in South Africa.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

www.absacapitaletfs.com

About Plexus Group

Established in 1995, the Plexus Group of companies is an independent investment house that specialises in asset management, investment consulting and the management of multi-manager investment solution for corporate and individual clients.

Enhanced Research Affiliates Fundamental Index™ (eRAFI™) approach to portfolio construction was pioneered by California-based Research Affiliates. .Plexus Group has been awarded an exclusive licence to implement and distribute products based on the eRAFI™ methodology in the Pan-African region.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact
Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic
Head of ETF’s and Index Products
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 5367

Paul Stewart,
MD Plexus Asset Management
+27 21 970 2400

Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

South Africa’s largest ETF reaches new milestone

Already the largest Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in the country, Absa Capital’s NewGold ETF (NewGold), reached yet another milestone today by notching up assets under management in excess of $1bn (R8.4bn). This morning’s listing of an additional 4,400,000 NewGold debentures has taken the fund’s holding of gold bullion to 33 tons.

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, said that the current turbulent economic times had made gold a very popular investment, and that gold’s investment case remained strong.

Designed by Absa Capital, the leading originator of ETFs in South Africa, NewGold is an investment tool that allows institutional and retail investors to invest in a liquid, listed instrument that is fully backed by gold bullion. NewGold invests directly in gold and tracks the gold price.

“Since inception, NewGold has performed extraordinarily well, increasing the gold holdings and the assets under management. Last year, and the beginning of this year, were particularly strong,” said Nedeljkovic.

“Investors are certainly favouring direct investment in gold as it is less volatile and can be better performing than investing in gold shares.”

NewGold, the only commodity ETF in the local market, was launched in November 2004 with assets under management of just under R250m.

Ends

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products

Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The firm listed and operates:

• NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate)
• NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R8.4 billion in assets under management.
• NewSA, the first ETF that tracks the empowerments status of South Africa’s Blue Chip corporates
• eRAFI™ the first ETF in South Africa to use an innovative enhanced fundamental indexing approach to portfolio construction
• Shari’ah 40, the first Shari’ah compliant equity-linked ETF in South Africa.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

www.absacapitaletfs.com

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic
Head of ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital
+27 11 350 2632

Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Deal could pave the way for more this year

The local securitization market was given a significant boost today with the announcement by Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, that it had raised R760m in the year’s first securitization deal.

Absa Capital raised the funds through the issuance of residential mortgage backed securities with a 12 month maturity for Nqaba Finance 1 (Pty) Ltd, the securitization vehicle of Eskom Finance Company (Pty) Limited (EFC).

The funding raised in the debt capital markets will be applied by EFC to fund a portion of EFC’s home loan book in respect of employee home loans.

Jacques Els, Head of Debt Capital Markets at Absa Capital, said: “It’s very gratifying to be able to do a deal like this for our client under these tough market conditions. It has also been particularly pleasing to see the diverse base of investors that participated in this first securitization deal for the year.”

The success of the deal was based partly on the efficient management and outstanding quality of the EFC home loan book. Employees have their monthly bond payments deducted from their salaries by Eskom so default rates are very low.

Els also noted that the deal proves that the outlook for the securitization market in South Africa may be improving.

“The situation remains challenging at present but we think that there will be more deals this year,” said Els.

Ends…

About 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.

About Absa Capital Debt Capital Markets (DCM)
Absa Capital’s Debt Capital Markets division (DCM) provides large corporates, banks, state-owned entities in Governments across South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa with sophisticated debt capital market funding solutions. These include bonds, commercial paper, asset backed securitization and hybrid debt, including convertible bond and preference share funding.

In 2008, Absa Capital concluded a number of major DCM deals, further entrenching its position as a key market participant in all aspects of DCM finance. Absa Capital excelled at the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) Spire Awards 2008, receiving awards for Best Primary Markets House, Best Bond Sales Team and Best Credit Analyst.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

London - Barclays PLC (“Barclays”) today announces the appointment of John Vitalo as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of Investment Banking and Investment Management (“IBIM”) for the Middle East. This new post will be in addition to his existing roles in Johannesburg as CEO of Absa Capital and his local responsibility in South Africa for Absa Wealth.

In his new IBIM role, John will be responsible for building out IBIM's three businesses of Barclays Capital, Barclays Wealth and Barclays Global Investors in the region and report to Roger Jenkins, Executive Chairman of Barclays Investment Banking and Investment Management, Middle East.

The Middle East region offers substantial business opportunities for Barclays.  Many of the largest sovereign funds are based in this region as well as high net worth individuals and leading world class companies.  All these clients are looking for investment management, advisory, wealth creation, risk management and financing solutions which Barclays is in a unique position to provide. 

"John has a proven track record of building businesses and deepening client relationships.   His appointment will continue the growth of Barclays successful businesses in the Middle East for the benefit of our clients," said Roger Jenkins, Executive Chairman of Barclays Investment Banking and Investment Management, Middle East.

For his Africa (including South Africa) investment banking responsibilities as CEO of Absa Capital, John will continue to report to Maria Ramos, CEO, Absa Group and Benoit de Vitry, Head of Global Markets-Trading, Europe and Head of Commodities and Emerging Markets at Barclays Capital.  He will also report to Maria Ramos and Tom Kalaris, CEO, Barclays Wealth, for Absa Wealth. John will split his time between Johannesburg and Dubai. 

This appointment highlights further the importance of Africa and the Middle East to Barclays, emphasising the importance the firm places on growing its businesses in these regions. Absa Capital is one of the leading investment banks in sub-Saharan Africa and its performance will continue to be an ongoing priority for John and Barclays Capital. The build out of Absa Wealth in South Africa will also be John’s priority.

"We are delighted John has been given additional responsibilities.  This reflects the huge progress made by all the team at Absa Capital and the strength of its management team," said Maria Ramos, CEO, Absa Group.  

In addition, Stephen van Coller has been appointed as Deputy CEO of Absa Capital, reporting to John. Stephen joined Absa Capital in September 2006 as its Head of Primary Markets and later added Co-Head of IBD to his responsibilities.

- Ends -

For further information please contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Notes to Editors:
About Barclays
Barclays Group is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 155,000 people.  Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 48 million customers and clients worldwide. 
www.barclays.com.

About Investment Banking and Investment Management (IBIM)
IBIM comprises three businesses of Barclays PLC, namely:

Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC.  With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with a full spectrum of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs.  Barclays Capital has offices around the world, employs 20,000 people and has the global reach, advisory services and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide.
www.barclayscapital.com.

Barclays Global Investors is one of the world's largest asset managers and a leading global provider of investment management products and services with more than 3,000 institutional clients and approximately $1.5 trillion of assets under management as of December 31, 2008. BGI transformed the investment industry by creating the first index strategy in 1971 and the first quantitative active strategy in 1979. BGI is the global product leader in exchange traded funds (iShares® exchange traded funds) with 360 funds for institutions and individuals globally.
www.barclaysglobal.com.

Barclays Wealth is a leading global wealth manager, and the UK’s largest, with total client assets of £145bn, as at 31 December 2008. With offices in 25 countries, Barclays Wealth serves affluent, high net worth and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, investment management, fiduciary services, and brokerage.
www.barclayswealth.com.

About 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.

NOTE: NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES

Absa Capital raises R568m for Gold Fields Limited

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today that it had raised R568m on behalf of Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) in the inaugural issuance under Gold Fields’ BESA listed R10bn Domestic Medium Term Note Programme (dated 6 April 2009).

Absa Capital, as sole lead arranger and bookrunner on this inaugural issaunce, placed an aggregate of R568m in the local debt capital market through a tranched issuance of commercial paper notes with three month and six month maturities respectively.

Jacques Els, head of Debt Capital Markets at Absa Capital said there was strong demand for the paper, as evidenced by the overall book being subscribed to the extent of 115%. This bears testimony to Gold Fields’ strong credit quality and investor’s continued demand at the short end of the curve.

“We are delighted to have raised these funds on behalf of a blue chip client, like Gold Fields, in these challenging market conditions,” said Els.

Ends…

About 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.

About Absa Capital Debt Capital Markets (DCM)
Absa Capital’s Debt Capital Markets division (DCM) provides large corporates, banks, state-owned entities in Governments across South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa with sophisticated debt capital market funding solutions. These include bonds, commercial paper, asset backed securitisation and hybrid debt, including convertible bond and preference share funding.

In 2008, Absa Capital concluded a number of major DCM deals, further entrenching its position as a key market participant in all aspects of DCM finance. Absa Capital excelled at the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) Spire Awards 2008, receiving awards for Best Primary Markets House, Best Bond Sales Team and Best Credit Analyst.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

This document is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. This document does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States. The securities mentioned herein (the “Securities”) have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”). The Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There will be no public offer of the Securities in the United States

South Africa’s first equity linked Shari’ah EFT

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, further redefined the local Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market today when it brought South Africa’s first Shari’ah compliant equity-linked ETF to market.

The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF tracks the FTSE/JSE Shari’ah Top 40 Index jointly established by London’s FTSE International Ltd (FTSE) and the JSE. The initial public offering for the Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF opened on 23 February and raised R27 million ahead of listing.

Commenting at today’s listing Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital said: “The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF is the first equity-linked Shari’ah compliant ETF in South Africa.

“The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF has effectively redefined the Muslim investment landscape in South Africa. It is a cost efficient, transparent and easy to access invest product that conforms to Shari’ah law,” said Nedeljkovic.

He expects the product to continue to be well received in a market that urgently requires more local Islamic investment products. There is an estimated 400 000 Muslim households in South Africa.

The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF provides investors with diversified exposure to the broad market through investing in one product and earning a market related performance. It also offers a credible Islamic investment opportunity aligning the South African Islamic investment market with global trends.

The Shari’ah screening of the index constituents is performed by Yasaar Ltd (Yasaar) using a two-step methodology. Yasaar represents all major Shari’ah schools of thought, creating a best practice approach that has credibility across all regions of the Islamic world. The ongoing screening of the Shari’ah compliance of the ETF is conducted by Absa’s Islamic Banking Shari’ah Supervisory Board.

Absa Capital’s NewGold ETF, the largest ETF in the South African market, with approximately R9bn in assets, is also Shari’ah compliant after it was approved by the Shari’ah Supervisory Board.

Ends…

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The investment bank listed and operates NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate), as well as NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R8.7 billion in assets under management.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

Related Websites
If you would like to know more about the fund, its composition or the FTSE/JSE Shari’ah Top 40 Index screening methodology go to www.absacapitaletfs.com

For further information on Yasaar, go to www.yasaar.org

About Absa Islamic Banking
Absa Islamic Banking is a division of Absa Group Limited. It was established during 2006 based on the need to provide financial products and services that were suitable for each sector of Absa’s diverse customer base and to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the Muslim communities of South Africa and Africa.

Absa Islamic Banking differs from Absa’s conventional banking offering in that it operates according to the dictates of Shari’ah Law. The independent Shari’ah Supervisory Board oversees every aspect of this process and approves all products and processes to ensure that the end to end customer experience is fully Shari’ah compliant.

In addition to retail transactional and investment products, customised products also meet specific client needs. This level of customer responsiveness resulted in Absa Islamic Banking being awarded Shari’ah Deal of the Year by Islamic Finance news in 2006. During 2007 Absa Islamic Banking was awarded Best Islamic Offering from a Conventional Bank by World Finance magazine and was voted Best Islamic Bank in Africa for 2007 and 2008 by Islamic Finance news.

Issued by: FD Beachhead Kate Kelly +27 11 214 2407 +27 79 637 4663 kate.kelly@fd.com For further information contact: Graeme Coetzee Associate Principal Marketing and Corporate Communications Absa Capital +27 11 895 6695 +27 79 695 9798 graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com
	From left to right: Alan Miller - Managing Executive: Absa Investments; Ahmed Moola - Managing Director: Absa Islamic Banking; Vladimir Nedeljkovic - Head : ETFs and Index Products

Product offers exposure to nine currencies

Leveraging off their extensive African presence, Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, in conjunction with its global affiliate, Barclays Capital has launched a diversified Sub–Saharan Africa currency product aimed at institutional investors and hedge funds.
The long–only product, known as Global Emerging Markets Strategy Sub-Saharan Africa or GEMS SSA, allows investors a first time opportunity to earn the yield on treasury bills in nine well diversified pan-African currencies.
The currencies are the Ghanaian Cedi, Nigerian Naira, Ugandan Shilling, Kenyan Shilling, Tanzanian Shilling, Botswana Pula, Zambian Kwacha, Namibian Dollar and Mauritian Rupee.
Mike Christelis, Head of Africa Trading at Absa Capital, said, “The introduction of the Global Emerging Markets Strategy or GEMS in Africa was in response to growing investor demand for emerging market asset classes, as they have historically offered high returns and low levels of volatility.”
The strategy gives investors immediate exposure to the nine constituent currencies in a simplified, easy to access manner, with a predetermined bid offer spread and exit mechanism.
“Typically exposure to these currencies would have required multiple transaction costs, presented timing challenges and offered no guaranteed exit strategy. This is all avoided with the GEMS SSA product,” added Christelis.
The GEMS strategy is based on investing into 6 month synthetic treasury bills across the nine African currencies. Investors take the currency and interest rate risk of the constituent currencies, without taking the exposure to government credit. Investors are instead exposed to Barclays Bank plc, which has an AA rating.
Access to this strategy is via investment in a two-year Barclays US Dollar Note that pays the yield on the 182-day government treasury bill on a rolling basis, net of all taxes and duties.
The daily Strategy Level is published on Bloomberg under the ticker ‘GEMSSSA’.
Ends…

About 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.
Issued by:
FDBeachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today that it had lead arranged and placed bonds to the value of R1,1 billion on behalf of Airports Company South Africa Limited (ACSA) with local institutional investors.

The issuance was done in three tranches consisting of a 7 year fixed rate note, 5 year inflation link tap and 14 year fixed rate tap issue. The issue size per bond was as follows:
• R556m at 280bps
• R500m at 5.5% p.a. (real yield)
• R50m at 200bps

Jacques Els, Head of Debt Capital Markets at Absa Capital, said that there was very strong support for the bonds from local institutions.

“Absa Capital continues to lead the market in debt arranging for premium South African clients. This announcement further underscores our leading capabilities,” said Els.

Phetolo Ramosebudi, ACSA Group Treasurer, said that ACSA will continue to tap the local domestic market, through auctions across its listed bond issues, to fund the airport infrastructure development programme. 

The bonds will be listed on the Bond Exchange of South Africa and issued under ACSA’s R12 billion Domestic Medium Term Note Programme as part of the company’s ongoing funding requirements. 

Ends…

About 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.

About Absa Capital Debt Capital Markets (DCM)
Absa Capital’s Debt Capital Markets division (DCM) provides large corporates, banks, state-owned entities in Governments across South Africa and sub-Sahara Africa with sophisticated debt capital market funding solutions. These include bonds, commercial paper, asset backed securitisation and hybrid debt, including convertible bond and preference share funding.

In 2008, Absa Capital concluded a number of major DCM deals, further entrenching its  position as a key market participant in all aspects of DCM finance. Absa Capital excelled at the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) Spire Awards 2008, receiving awards for Best Primary Markets House, Best Bond Sales Team and Best Credit Analyst.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Initial public offer opened 23 February

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, today announced the launch of South Africa’s first Shari’ah compliant equity-linked Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), further reinforcing its leading role in the domestic ETF market.

The initial public offering for the NewFunds Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF opened on 23 February. The ETF will be listed on 6 April on the JSE Ltd (JSE). 

The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF tracks the FTSE/JSE Shari’ah Top 40 Index jointly established by London’s FTSE International Ltd (FTSE) and the JSE. The Shari’ah screening of the index constituents is performed by Yasaar Ltd (Yasaar) using a two-step methodology.

Yasaar represents all major Shari’ah schools of thought, creating a best practice approach that has credibility across all regions of the Islamic world. The ongoing screening of the Shari’ah compliance of the ETF is conducted by Absa’s Islamic Banking Shari’ah Supervisory Board.

“The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF is a first for South Africa and will redefine the Muslim investment landscape in South Africa,” said Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital.

“This ETF is a cost efficient, transparent and easy to access investment product that conforms to the principles of Shari’ah law,” said Nedeljkovic.

Nedeljkovic said that he expects the product to be well received in a market that urgently requires more local Islamic investment products to service the estimated 400 000 Muslim households in South Africa.

“The Shari’ah Top 40 Index ETF provides investors with diversified exposure to the broad market through investing in one Shari’ah compliant ETF share and earning a market related performance.”

It also offers a credible Islamic investment opportunity aligning the South African Islamic investment market with global trends.

Absa Capital’s NewGold ETF, the largest ETF in the South African market, with approximately R9bn in assets, is also Shari’ah compliant after it was approved by the Shari’ah Supervisory Board.

Ends…

Note to the editor:

About 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.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The investment bank listed and operates NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate), as well as NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R8.7 billion in assets under management.

Absa Capital ETFs are listed on the JSE Ltd and can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

www.absacapitaletfs.com

About Absa Islamic Banking
Absa Islamic Banking is a division of Absa Group Limited. It was established during 2006 based on the need to provide financial products and services that were suitable for each sector of Absa’s diverse customer base and to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the Muslim communities of South Africa and Africa.

Absa Islamic Banking differs from Absa’s conventional banking offering in that it operates according to the dictates of Shari’ah Law. The independent Shari’ah Supervisory Board oversees every aspect of this process and approves all products and processes to ensure that the end to end customer experience is fully Shari’ah compliant.

In addition to retail transactional and investment products, customised products also meet specific client needs. This level of customer responsiveness resulted in Absa Islamic Banking being awarded Shari’ah Deal of the Year by Islamic Finance news in 2006. During 2007 Absa Islamic Banking was awarded Best Islamic Offering from a Conventional Bank by World Finance magazine and was voted Best Islamic Bank in Africa for 2007 and 2008 by Islamic Finance news.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital further underscored its private equity credentials today when a consortium of private equity investors, co-led by Absa Capital Private Equity (Pty) Ltd (Absa Capital Private Equity) and Vantage Capital Group (Pty) Ltd (Vantage Capital), announced that they had acquired the entire issued ordinary share capital of the JSE-listed Kwikspace Modular Buildings Ltd (Kwikspace).

The consortium comprises Absa Capital Private Equity, Vantage Capital and certain members of the Kwikspace management team.

The offer - R8 a share for a total consideration of R683 m – was made to acquire the entire issued ordinary share capital of Kwikspace, excluding those shares held by Vantage Capital and certain other shares held by the current management team.

Andre Pieterse, CEO of Absa Capital Private Equity, said that he was delighted to acquire Africa’s largest and most diverse manufacturer of factory-built modular homes, clinics, offices and classrooms. 

“The offer was implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement between Kwikspace and its shareholders, other than Vantage and Kwikspace management, in terms of section 311 of the Companies Act,” said Pieterse.

Mutle Mogase, Vantage Capital’s director on the board of Kwikspace commented: “We have a long-standing relationship with the company which dates back to 2006 when we first acquired a 30% shareholding as BEE investor. This buyout represents a new and exciting phase in this relationship.”

All conditions precedent to the scheme were fulfilled and the scheme consideration was paid to shareholders on Monday, 23 February 2009.

The listing of Kwikspace shares was terminated at the commencement of today’s trading.

Kwikspace has been building a wide variety of modular building units for more than 30 years and exporting to many parts of Africa, South America and the Middle East - supplying customers in the private, industrial, commercial and government sectors.

Kwikspace has factories in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, with sales offices situated in most major cities throughout the country.

Ends

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Grant Henry
+27 11 214 2406
+27 82 561 7172
grant.henry@fd.com

For further information contact:
Andre Pieterse       Colin Rezek
CEO: Absa Capital Private Equity (Pty) Limited  Director: Vantage Capital
+27 11 895 6968      +27 11 530 9103

Graeme Coetzee
Communications Manager
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absa.co.za

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.

Absa Capital Private Equity
Absa Capital Private Equity (Pty) Limited is a specialist team of dedicated private equity investment professionals from diverse fields who focus on creating post-deal value to maximise investment returns. Absa Capital Private Equity is one of the most prominent private equity fund managers in South Africa.

Vantage Capital
Vantage Capital is a majority black-owned private equity group which manages proprietary capital and third party funds of over R2 billion including Africa’s largest independent mezzanine debt fund. Vantage Capital is currently raising a second mezzanine debt fund of between R2-3 billion. Vantage Capital also manages a technology fund and a proprietary private equity portfolio.

Making its intentions clear for Africa early in the new year, Absa Capital today announced the appointment of John Gachora to drive its investment banking business on the continent.

Gachora, who joined Absa Capital from Bank of America, was first introduced to the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd at a recruitment roadshow. The event was hosted in New York in the first quarter of 2008, in conjunction with Barclays Capital, and was open to investment bankers from Africa.

Absa Capital’s compelling growth story, its global reach through Barclays Capital and its prospects for Africa were shared with the assembled bankers.

Gachora leapt at the idea of joining a dynamic, growing enterprise and working back on the continent of his birth. Originally from Kenya, Gachora left in 1989 to study engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Massachusetts, USA. He cut his teeth in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and then Bank of America, where he was Managing Director and Head of Structuring within Structured Products.

Gachora’s new role as Regional Head of the Investment Banking Division responsible for sub-Saharan Africa will see him redefining Absa Capital’s presence on the continent.

Commenting on the appointment Paul Bijleveld, Head of Investment Banking Division and Africa said: “We are very pleased to have someone of John’s calibre joining the team to drive our Africa ambitions for two reasons.”

“One, there are opportunities aplenty and deals to be done across the continent and two, significantly, we are attracting key talent back to Africa.”

Gachora holds a Masters of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Masters of Business Administration from Wharton Business School.

Ends…

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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Communications Manager
+27 11 350 2167
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital announced today the appointment of Andrew Dickens as Head of Trading with immediate effect. Dickens, who has replaced Mike Bagguley, will also assume a role on the investment bank’s Executive Committee. Bagguley has returned to Barclays Capital in London, where he will take up a position in Global Markets as Head of FX Europe and Global Head of FX Cash.

Dickens joined Absa Capital in November 2006 to head up Foreign Exchange and Fixed Income Trading. He was subsequently appointed Head of Equity, Credit and Commodities Trading in May 2008.

Building on from where Bagguley left off, Dickens will continue to grow and transform Absa Capital’s trading platform, guided by the ambition to construct the leading markets team in sub-Saharan Africa, in line with Absa Capital’s overall objective of being the region’s premier investment bank.

“From a client servicing perspective the transition from Mike to Andrew will be seamless since Andrew has been appointed from within our ranks,” said John Vitalo, Chief Executive of Absa Capital.

“Andrew has also made a significant contribution in growing and redefining Absa Capital’s trading franchise, both domestically and internationally. I have every confidence that his enthusiasm and depth of experience will continue to provide the catalyst in developing one of the most varied and exciting trading offerings in the market.”

Prior to joining Absa Capital, Dickens spent eight years as a Director and Head of Fixed Income at Standard Bank.

Ends…

Note to editors:
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.

Issued by:
FD Beachhead
Kate Kelly
+27 11 214 2407
+27 79 637 4663
kate.kelly@fd.com

For further information contact:
Graeme Coetzee
Associate Principal
Marketing and Corporate Communications
Absa Capital
+27 11 895 6695
+27 79 695 9798
graeme.coetzee@absacapital.com

Absa Capital – one of the leading investment banks in South Africa - and Vunani Capital broke new ground again today with the listing of NewSA, South Africa’s first BEE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).

NewSA, a joint venture between Absa Capital and Vunani Capital, is the first product to offer an investable BEE financial instrument.

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETF’s and Index Products at Absa Capital, said that the NewSA ETF would give investors the opportunity to reward and acknowledge transformation.

“It is aimed at institutional investors, fund and asset managers, as well as high net worth individuals wanting to increase their exposure to blue-chip companies, with high black economic empowerment ratings, listed on the JSE,” said Nedeljkovic.

“NewSA is likely to provide sound returns as the companies in the fund are South Africa’s top performers.”

The initial size of the fund will be R44.2m.

The NewSA ETF will track the performance of the NewSA Index, a modified Top40 index, with the constituent weightings adjusted to reflect their respective BEE status. This is determined using the Codes of Good Practice on Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, published by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The empowerment scores of the NewSA Index constituents are provided by Empowerdex, an independent empowerment rating agency, and the index itself is independently calculated by the FTSE and the JSE.

Ethan Dube, CEO of Vunani Group said: “The NewSA ETF allows market forces to recognise transformation by allocating relatively more funds to those companies in the Top 40 with a higher broad-based empowerment rating.”

“By supporting companies that are represented in the NewSA Index, the fund indirectly enables investors to endorse the country’s growth,” said Dube.

NewSA ETF offers a particularly convenient and cost-effective investment option for institutional investors - especially those managing governmental and para-governmental investment vehicles – as well as other fund and asset managers with a mandate to gain exposure to BEE companies.

The structure of the NewSA fund minimises risk through the diversification benefits of its 40 shares.

“NewSA is liquid, traded like shares, has no restrictions on entry and exit, and is cost effective and transparent,” said Nedeljkovic.

ENDS

Note to the editor:

New SA
The fee structure is based on a sliding scale, with management fees as low as 0.15% per annum for large investors. In addition, normal brokerage and statutory costs apply as they would for any other instrument listed on the JSE. NewSA Securities in issue are covered by physical holding of NewSA Index constituent shares. The underlying shares are held in a trust (NewSA Trust) with independent trustees. The JSE has guaranteed settlement of all NewSA trades on the JSE.

Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The investment bank listed and operates NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate), as well as NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R6.5billion in assets under management.

ETFs are open-ended collective investment schemes that are listed on a stock exchange and which can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

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.

Vunani Capital
Vunani Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vunani Capital Holdings. The Vunani group is a black owned and managed financial services group that was established in 1998. A management buy-out from its holding company in 2004 led to the introduction of a strategic equity partner in the form of Absa Bank, a subsidiary of Barclays Bank. The group is positioned as an investment banking boutique.


Composition of the NewSA Index

Cons Code	Company Name	% Weighting within Index	Holdings per Basket
1	MTN Group	13.08%	23,675.46
2	BHP Billiton	13.06%	16,715.17
3	SABMiller	9.03%	10,593.20
4	Standard Bank Group	8.92%	21,762.29
5	Anglo American	8.13%	7,535.49
6	Sasol	6.79%	5,366.10
7	Firstrand Limited	4.65%	59,918.70
8	Naspers	4.31%	5,372.79
9	Anglogold Ashanti	4.07%	3,510.70
10	Old Mutual	2.68%	64,694.45
11	Absa Group	2.35%	4,352.88
12	Sanlam	2.22%	25,180.93
13	Gold Fields	2.08%	4,850.28
14	Bidvest Group	1.88%	3,704.01
15	Telkom	1.84%	3,335.41
16	Nedbank Group.	1.58%	3,218.49
17	Remgro	1.50%	3,746.48
18	Harmony	1.42%	3,185.34
19	Investec PLC	1.27%	6,214.75
20	Tiger Brands	0.98%	1,373.91
21	Anglo Platinum	0.92%	402.23
22	African Bank Invest	0.89%	6,977.50
23	Aveng	0.84%	5,371.76
24	Investec Ltd	0.84%	3,866.54
25	Sappi	0.79%	4,021.12
26	Pretoria Portland Cement	0.68%	4,294.51
27	RMB Holdings	0.66%	5,371.02
28	Kumba Iron Ore	0.52%	662.42
29	Steinhoff International Holdings	0.47%	8,021.63
30	Liberty Hldgs.	0.43%	1,257.14
31	African Rainbow Minerals Ltd.	0.36%	781.94
32	Murray & Roberts	0.25%	1,056.86
33	Shoprite	0.24%	897.41
34	Exxaro Resources	0.21%	628.56
35	Mondi Ltd	0.07%	429.19

Index Level: 20,411.44
Basket value: R20,411,440

The constituent shares set out above are extracted from the latest available information as at 27 November 2007 and are included for information purposes only. For accurate information on the constituent shares, the number of constituent securities in one basket, the basket value and the index level, consult the NewFunds website: www.newfunds.co.za.

Hot on the heels of their success at the recent Risk South Africa Rankings, Absa Capital announced today that it had further consolidated its industry leading position by delivering an impressive performance at the annual Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) Spire Awards.

Absa Capital featured widely across the 20 nominated categories, but reigned supreme in three key categories: Best Primary Markets House; Best Bond Sales Team; and Best Credit Analyst.

Furthermore the CPI-linked bond that was arranged by Absa Capital on behalf of Absa Bank won the coveted Media Innovator of the Year award. This was the first time that a South African bank issued an inflation-linked subordinated bond into the domestic capital market.

The Best Primary Markets House award recognises the debt capital market team that distinguishes itself as a leader and innovator in the field. The team is judged to have a high a degree of professionalism, transparency and an outstanding ability to satisfy an issuer’s needs.

The Best Bond Sales Team is awarded to the team that consistently adds value to its clients through providing excellent service.

The Best Credit Analyst, Kate Rushton, is the individual judged to have provided the best research for non-government and fixed-income issues. Earlier this year Rushton also walked away with the top honours at the annual FM Ranking the Analysts awards.

Absa Capital also performed strongly in the following categories: Best Bond Pricing Team; Best Bond Trading House; Best Interest Rate Derivate Trading Team; Best Sales and Structuring; Best Derivative Trading House; Best Research House; Best Inflation Linked Debt House; and Best Fixed Income House.

Absa Capital, indirectly, also got recognition for the work it had done for the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). SANRAL was recognised as the Best Borrower, and Absa Capital acted as joint lead arranger on the bulk of the organisation’s debt capital market issuance during 2008.

The BESA Spire Awards is an annual event and recognises those individuals and teams who have used talent, intelligence and commitment to contribute to the bond market in South Africa.

Ends…

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.

 

In line with their objective to attract the best talent available in investment banking, Absa Capital today announced three appointments to further boost their Investor Services and Equity Investments team. Both the Infrastructure Equity Investments and Private Equity businesses will benefit from the appointments.

Thando Mhlambiso has been appointed as Managing Principal to head up the Infrastructure Equity Investments business while Gareth Druce has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Absa Capital Private Equity (Pty) Ltd. Charmaine Padayachy will join the Private Equity team as a deal executive.

Mhlambiso, a law and business graduate from Columbia University has extensive experience in private equity having held various posts at Sanlam Private Equity, Sanlam Investment Managers and Kagiso Ventures Private Equity.

Prior to joining Absa Capital Mhlambiso established and lead an investment firm that specialized in acquiring strategic equity stakes in companies in the infrastructure space – skills vital to a team who recently announced acquiring stakes in the likes of Dark Fibre Africa, the Gautrain and SADC’s new head office in Botswana.

Absa Capital Private Equity has also recently been in the news with the announcement of its offer to take up the entire share capital of the JSE listed Enviroserv Ltd, and for having concluded six of the  top ten private equity transactions in South Africa in 2007. 

Druce, a chartered accountant, has joined the team from KPMG where he was Chief Operating Officer of the Private Equity Group. Druce has held various positions in corporate finance at both BHP Billiton and KPMG.

Padayachy, also a chartered accountant, joined the Private Equity team, as a deal executive, from Ernst and Young in London where she was a senior executive within the private equity and transaction advisory services team. Prior to Ernst and Young, Padayachy was in leveraged finance at Standard Bank. 

Ends…

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.

 

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, has further underlined its claim on becoming South Africa’s leading investment bank through its strong showing in the annual Risk magazine survey for 2008.

Absa Capital was ranked first overall in the Currency Products category and second overall out of the ten firms surveyed, significantly closing the gap on the overall frontrunner. The gap between the first ranked bank and Absa Capital was narrowed to 0.6%.

Absa Capital recorded eight first positions in the surveyed categories. 

Absa Capital performed strongly in Cross-Currency Swaps, Currency Forwards and Currency Options to walk way with the overall plaudits in the Currency Products category, but also performed very well in the Interest Rate category.

Individual stand-out performances were recorded in Interest Rate Swaps, Repurchase Agreements, Interest Rate Swaps, Interest Rate Exotics, and Forward-Rate Agreements.

The Equity Products category also saw Absa Capital lead in Exotic Equity Options and South African Equity Index Options.

“These results reflect our level of dedication to our clients and the levels of service we are delivering to them,” said Andrew Selby, Head of Sales, Absa Capital.

“We will continuously strive to improve the depth and breadth of our product offering as the client is at the centre of everything we do.”

The survey forms part of a series of surveys conducted by Risk magazine across a range of sectors in the financial and capital markets.

Ends…

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.

 

At a recent seminar, Ridle Markus, Sub-Saharan African researcher at Absa Capital, said that there are 10 main reasons why Africa is firmly on the radar screens of international investors:

1. Enhanced democracy and political stability

2. Improvement in macroeconomic performance and economic stability

3. Improvement in infrastructure, like telecommunications

4. Improved legal structures

5. Faster population growth than in mature markets

6. Africa is resource rich

7. Improvement in financial market development

8. High expected returns

9. Risk diversification

10.  Frameworks for development and trade agreements

Ends…

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.

 

ANDRE Pieterse, Managing Principal, Absa Capital Private Equity, has been appointed to the board of the South African Venture Capital Association (SAVCA). The decision was taken at the association's annual general meeting, which was recently held in Johannesburg.

Absa Capital Private Equity was most recently in the news when it announced it would buy the entire share capital of EnviroServ Holdings Limited, the JSE listed waste management group, in a private equity deal worth over R2bn.

The announcement remains the largest public to private transaction in the domestic market this year.

Commenting on his appointment, Andre Pieterse said: "SAVCA aims to play a meaningful role in the venture capital and private equity industry, and I intend to help facilitate this process through my appointment to the board."

Ends…

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.

 

Absa Capital Brings Corporate Bond to Market
Absa Capital joint lead manages R750m Barloworld Limited Bond Issue

Absa Capital, one of South Africa’s leading investment banks, today announced the issuance of a R750m Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) listed bond on behalf of Barloworld Limited (Barloworld).

This is the first prominent corporate long term bond issue for some time in the local debt capital markets, the previous being the Telkom Limited bond issuance in April this year. Absa Capital was the joint lead arranger in this transaction.

This year the local debt capital market has been dominated by State Owned Enterprises looking to fund ever increasing infrastructural requirements via long term debt capital market funding.

Today’s announcement follows hot on the heels of similar announcements earlier this year with Absa Capital, proving itself to be the preferred manager by bond issuers.

Notable debt issues arranged by Absa Capital this year include the Development Bank of South Africa, Airports Company South Africa, Telkom Limited, The South African National Roads Agency, City of Cape Town, Eqstra Corporation and Mercedes Benz South Africa.
 
This latest issuance by Barloworld, BAW2, is its second BESA listed bond - the first being the BAW1 (R1.5bn maturing in July 2011).

The BAW2 bond will be listed on BESA on the 2nd of October. The bond will pay a fixed rate coupon of 11.67% per annum, payable semi-annually.

Don Wilson, Financial Director at Barloworld said: “We are pleased with the level of interest shown by the investment community in our second bond offering. This funding should go a long way to improving the maturity profile of our total debt.”

Commenting on the announcement, Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Convertibles and Hybrids at Absa Capital said: “It is encouraging to see the level of demand displayed by the local investment community for a credible corporate name such as Barloworld, particularly in this uncertain and challenging credit climate.”

Strong credit names which position their credit correctly should find strong support from the local investment community, added Els.

“Absa Capital continues to aggressively pursue the position as the country’s leading debt arranger and today’s announcement underscores that commitment” said Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital.

Absa Capital was appointed joint lead manager along with The Standard Bank of South Africa.

Ends…

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.

 

Absa Capital announced today that R400m has poured into South Africa’s first eRAFI™ Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) since its listing in June, making it one of the most popular new investment options this year.

Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic, head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital said that the eRAFI™ Overall SA Index, the index being tracked by the eRAFI™ ETF, has outperformed its benchmark JSE All Share Index by 18% in the past three months.

The new eRAFI™ ETF is compiled using the innovative enhanced Research Affiliates Fundamental Index™ (eRAFI™) approach to portfolio construction pioneered by California-based Research Affiliates. The eRAFI™ ETF methodology weights shares based on fundamental valuation metrics - sales, cash flow, book price and dividends - rather than market capitalisation.

Absa Capital, together with local investment manager Plexus Asset Management, exclusively manage the eRAFI™ ETF in South Africa.

“We expect the eRAFI™ ETF to continue to be hugely popular with institutional and private investors alike,” said Nedeljkovic. “The eRAFI™ ETF overcomes the typical problems associated with ETFs that use the market capitalisation method of indexing, that over-weights stocks that are overvalued in the market and under-weights stocks that are undervalued – the opposite of good investment practice.”

It is also cheaper than unit trusts, and over time, a far better performer added Nedeljkovic.

When comparing the returns of various asset classes in South Africa over the last 10 years, the back-tested eRAFI™ index far outperformed other asset classes with a 28.3% annual average return. The second best performer was the All Share index at 18.8%, followed by the JSE’s top 40 shares at 16.5%, property at 13.1% and cash at 11.1%.

“RAFI™ strategies have outperformed cap-weighted index strategies by more than 2.5% per annum internationally, in over 23 mature stock markets, and significantly more in emerging markets over extended measurement periods,” said Nedeljkovic.

The eRAFI™ also differs from the RAFI™ ETF. The eRAFI™ on average gives an additional 20-30% return above the RAFI out performance of capitalisation weighted indexation.

The RAFI only rebalances its portfolio once a year, has fewer filters for stock picking and also does not pay out dividends but reinvests them.

“The eRAFI™ methodology provides all the benefits of traditional market capitalisation-weighted indices, including diversification, liquidity, low turnover and competitive fees, while generating incrementally higher returns with lower volatility,” said Nedeljkovic.

According to Nedeljkovic the South African market, especially pension funds, are waking up to the advantages of passive index trackers. Consequently there will be a proliferation in both the number of ETFs listed on the JSE, as well as the amount of money invested in these products over the next few years.

Ends…

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.

About eRAFI™ Exchange Traded Fund:
The eRAFI™ Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is an open ended collective investment and the size of funds under management is expected to grow. It is comprised of 40 shares selected using the RAFI™ fundamental selection criteria from the JSE top 100 shares based on market capitalisation and the portfolio will be rebalanced quarterly.

About Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products:
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The investment bank listed and operates NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate), as well as NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R6.5billion in assets under management.

ETFs are open-ended collective investment schemes that are listed on a stock exchange and which can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

Absa Capital Private Equity affirmed its dominance in the local private equity market with its announcement that it will buy the entire share capital of EnviroServ Holdings Limited,  the JSE listed waste management group, in a private equity deal worth over R2bn.

Andre Pieterse, CEO of Absa Capital Private Equity said: “This is the first of its kind in the South African private equity space, where a private equity house acquires a waste management company.”

The development is in line with precedents set in international markets where private equity houses invest on an increasing basis in ‘clean-tech’ assets.

“The announcement reflects the largest public to private transaction in the domestic market this year, and goes to show that there is still a huge amount of confidence in the private equity market,” said Pieterse. “Major deals are starting to happen again.”

Absa Capital Private Equity has made an offer of R16.60 per share to the board of directors of EnviroServ to acquire the entire 113 371 208 issued share capital of the company. 

“EnviroServ is also eager to improve the representation of previously disadvantaged individuals,” said Pieterse. “Shortly after the buyout, we expect a BEE entity or a consortium of BEE entities to acquire indirectly 20% of the underlying assets and business of EnviroServ.”

The directors of EnviroServ have declared a cash special dividend of 35 cents per share to be paid on 29 September 2008. 

The last day to trade in order to participate in the dividend ’cum dividend’ will be 18 September 2008.  The shares will trade ’ex dividend’ from the commencement of business on 19 September 2008.

Absa Capital Private Equity was involved in 5 of the top 10 private equity transactions reported in 2007 according to the KPMG and SAVCA Private Equity Survey.

Ends…

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.

About Absa Capital Private Equity:
Absa Capital Private Equity (Pty) Limited is a specialist team of dedicated private equity investment professionals from diverse fields who focus on creating post-deal value to maximise investment returns. Absa Capital Private Equity is one of the most prominent private equity fund managers in South Africa.

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, and its empowerment partner Vunani Capital, acting as joint lead managers, announced today the issuance of listed bonds, worth R2bn, on behalf of the South African Road Agency (SANRAL).

Today’s placements pave the way for regular auctions from SANRAL to finance its ongoing capital expenditure requirements.

The inaugural bond issues by SANRAL, under its newly established R10bn Domestic Medium Term Note (DMTN) Programme, will be listed on the Bond Exchange of South Africa on July 15. The programme offers SANRAL flexible funding options in the debt capital markets.

Today’s issuance comprised four bonds, including a 5-year inflation-linked bond (NR013) and three fixed rate bonds maturing in 10 years (NR018), 14 years (NR022) and 20 years (NR013) respectively. The bonds were met by strong support from the fixed income investor community.

This latest announcement of an issue by a parastatal follows similar announcements from Absa Capital earlier this year, proving that the country’s only fully local and fully global investment bank is increasingly becoming the preferred lead arranger by bond issuers. 

Notable debt issues arranged by Absa Capital over the past six months include the Development Bank of South Africa, Telkom and the City of Cape Town.

Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Hybrids and Convertibles at Absa Capital, said that very strong market appetite for these bonds was evident with total bids amounting to just over R3bn.

“This level of subscription is indicative of investor interest in SANRAL and should bode well for forthcoming bond issues,” said Els. “Market demand for high quality parastatal paper remains strong, as was evident by the credit spreads at which the paper placed, despite a tough market environment.”

Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital, said he was delighted with the success of the issue.

“Absa Capital is proud to have been involved in SANRAL’s inaugural bond issue thereby supporting both the Road’s Agency and the development of South Africa’s road network,” said van Coller.

Ends…

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.

 

Absa Capital’s credentials as a financier to empowerment companies was further boosted today through its participation as mandated lead arranger in providing funding facilities for Mvelaphanda Group Limited (Mvelaphanda Group). Mvelaphanda Group will utilize the funding for its strategic acquisition programme.

Today’s announcement follows the completion of Mvelaphanda Group’s acquisition of a 25.5 % stake in Avusa Limited (Avusa).

Media and entertainment group, Avusa, is home to some of the country’s leading titles, including the Sunday Times, Business Day and Financial Mail. It is regarded as one of the premier media assets in South Africa.

Yolanda Cuba, Chief Executive of Mvelaphanda Group, said: “We respect and value the care and diligence Absa Capital has taken as lead arranger for our strategic acquisition programme – attributes that will continue to make Absa Capital a leading participant in empowerment finance and advisory mandates.”

Commenting on today’s announcement, Craig Brewer of Absa Capital said: “Our BEE focus, as part of our Investment Banking division coverage, has ably positioned Absa Capital to advise and fund on all aspects of funding empowerment groups.”

“It is Absa Capital’s stated aim to participate in the transformation of the South African economy by actively pursuing and funding value-enhancing transactions undertaken by BEE groups,” added Paul Bijleveld, Head of Investment Banking at Absa Capital.

“Today’s announcement also further underscores the importance of, and commitment by Absa Capital, to the BEE partner of Absa Group,” said Brewer.

Ends…

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.

 

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, announced today the inaugural debt capital market issuance by Eqstra Corporation (Pty) Ltd (Eqstra Corp) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eqstra Holdings Limited (Eqstra).

Eqstra is a diversified, leasing, industrial, construction and mining equipment importer and distributor, as well as being the largest opencast hard rock contract miner and plant hire company in South Africa. The company was listed on the JSE Limited on the 12th of May this year. Eqstra currently avails of committed banking lines totaling R6.9bn of which R4.8bn has been drawn down.

The first Commercial Paper issuance for Eqstra Corp, the 1 month EQ001U (R250 million) and 3 month EQ002U (R500 million) notes have been issued under the issuer’s newly established BESA listed R8bn Domestic Medium Term Note (DMTN) Programme. The notes are scheduled to settle on 14 July 2008. The yields on the EQ001 and EQ002 are 12.53% and 12.925% respectively.

Walter Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Eqstra indicated that the issue was met with a great level of enthusiasm by the local investor community.

The high level of interest shown in these Commercial Paper issues was reflected by the 179% subscription level achieved on the issue and bodes well for future Eqstra debt capital market funding initiatives.  Hill also indicated that the DMTN Programme and this inaugural debt capital market issuance will serve to diversify Eqstra funding sources.

We are exceptionally pleased to have acted as joint lead arrangers on the Eqstra DMTN Programme and its first venture into the listed debt capital markets,” said Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital. “Through this issuance we’re proud to assist Eqstra to achieve its optimal funding structure.”

This deal follows the announcement of debt issues arranged by Absa Capital in past eight months including Transnet, Development Bank of South Africa, Airports Company South Africa, Telkom, City of Cape Town and Mercedes Benz South Africa.

Absa Capital is proving itself to be the preferred lead arranger by debt capital market issuers.

“Absa Capital continues to aggressively pursue the position as the country’s leading debt arranger and today’s announcement underscores that commitment,” concluded Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Convertibles and Hybrids at Absa Capital.

Absa Capital and Nedbank Capital acted as Joint Lead Arrangers on the DMTN Programme and as joint bookrunners for the Commercial Paper Issue.

Ends…

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.

 

In a further display of its commitment to infrastructure equity investments, Absa Capital’s Infrastructure Equity Investments (IEI) team today announced the acquisition of an 8% shareholding in the Gautrain and the funding of a further 8% shareholding, acquired by the J&J Group.

In addition to acquiring an 8% share directly, the IEI team also funded the J&J Group’s 8% acquisition, in order to increase the BEE shareholding in the Bombela Concession Company (Pty) Ltd (Bombela). Bombela holds the 20 year concession for the design, build, part–finance, operation and maintenance of the R25 billion Gautrain project.

Bouygues Travaux Publics and Bombardier Transportation have each sold 8% of their shares in Bombela and continue to hold 17% respectively.

This acquisition is significant in that it makes Absa Capital and the J&J Group the first entities to acquire shareholding in Bombela since its incorporation by the original shareholders.

Furthermore, through this acquisition Absa Capital publicly shows its support for the Gauteng Province’s efforts to contribute to economic growth and improve alternative commuter transportation..

“The acquisition of equity within Bombela is a reflection of our commitment to partner the Gautrain project as it rapidly moves from the planning stages to reality,” said Sollie Nortjé, Head of IEI at Absa Capital.

“The IEI team focuses on equity investments in infrastructure projects throughout Sub-Saharan Africa” said Nortjé. “However it is particularly heart warming to be committed to such a high profile project in our very own backyard.”

Absa Corporate and Business Bank is also the largest debt funder of the Gautrain project.

Today’s announcement follows in quick succession after the IEI division recently announced an  acquisition of a 15% stake in Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) new USD30 million headquarters in Botswana.

Ends…

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.

About Absa Capital Infrastructure Equity Investment
The Infrastructure Equity Investments (IEI) team is establishing itself as the leader in providing equity investments for infrastructure projects across south and Sub-Saharan Africa.  IEI’s investment mandate includes:

• equity stakes in infrastructure projects;
• equity stakes in companies that supply or support these projects;
• funding of the empowerment component of sponsor consortiums; and
• funding of mezzanine equity.

The team’s robust investment strategy includes a diversified portfolio of projects in the energy, transportation, telecommunications, water and sanitation and property sectors.

The IEI team’s investment criteria include:
 
• acquisition of minority shareholding positions;
• investments in Greenfield and existing projects;
• established contractors and operators; and
• independent legal and technical and financial due diligence.

About The J&J Group
The J&J Group is a broad-based BEE investment and management company with holdings in the financial services, healthcare, information technology and industrial sectors.

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.

Ends…

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.

 

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, in partnership with Barclays Bank Botswana today announced the single largest parastatal debt issue in the Botswana debt capital market, totaling BWP400 million, on behalf of Water Utilities Corporation (WUC). This was the second such debt issuance arranged by Absa Capital and Barclays Bank in Botswana this year. The note is scheduled to be listed on 26 June on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

Besides the size of the issuance, today’s announcement is also significant given the recent redemptions and lull in non-bank bond issuance for nearly two years.

Historically WUC has depended on loans from the Public Debt Service Fund, now Debt Participation Capital Fund, banks, and regional and international development finance institutions for funding its capital expenditure. In order to diversify its funding base and reduce its cost of borrowing, WUC mandated Absa Capital and Barclays Bank Botswana to co-lead manage the bond issue.

Favourable market and credit fundamentals led to the establishment of a BWP400 million Domestic Medium Term Note Programme, and the inaugural issue of two long term bonds: the WUC001 (maturing in 2018); and the WUC002 (maturing in 2026). 

The bonds were marketed to the domestic investment community through a comprehensive roadshow. They met with overwhelming demand in both the 10-year and 18-year area, despite competing supply just days prior to WUC coming to market.

The bonds are issued as fixed rate instruments and pay a semi-annual coupon of 10.65% and 10.60% per annum for the WUC001 and WUC002 respectively.

“Bond pricing and structure were key to the successful launch of the WUC bonds,” said Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Convertibles and Hybrids at Absa Capital.

The favourable support for the bonds was illustrated by the high level of oversubscription on both of the WUC bonds - collectively 124% with BWP894 million in total bids received. 

Recently Absa Capital and Barclays Bank Botswana announced the successful issuance of the BWP70 million Botswana Vaccine Institute Pty Ltd (BVI) debut bond in the Botswana debt capital market as well as a BWP75 million bond for Botswana Building Society.

“This latest transaction for WUC follows the success of the BVI and Botswana Building Society deals and have cemented Absa Capital’s position as the leading arranger of debt in the Botswana debt capital market,” said Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital.

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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.

Water Utilities Corporation
The Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) is a corporate body wholly owned by the Government of Botswana responsible for planning, construction, operating, treating, maintaining and distributing water resources to 34% of Botswana population.

In a further display of industry leadership, the Exchange Traded Funds and Index Products team at Absa Capital in partnership with Plexus Asset Management today listed the first-ever enhanced Research Affiliates Fundamental Index® (eRAFITM) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in South Africa on the JSE. The eRAFI™ ETF is a portfolio under the NewFunds Collective Investment Scheme.

The initial public offer raised R370m in investments from institutional and retail investors. The fund is open-ended and the size of funds under management is expected to grow further post listing.

Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of ETFs and Index Products at Absa Capital, said that the eRAFI™ methodology is groundbreaking in South Africa. It is the first time an ETF will weight shares based on fundamental valuation metrics.

“By avoiding the inherent valuation bias of capitalisation weighting, eRAFI™ strategies have outperformed by more than 2.5% per annum internationally, in over 23 mature stock markets and more in emerging markets,” said Nedeljkovic.

“The problem with the market capitalisation method of indexing is that it overweights stocks that are overvalued in the market and underweights stocks that are undervalued – the opposite of good investment practice.”

The new ETF will be compiled using the innovative eRAFITM approach to portfolio construction. The approach was pioneered by California-based Research Affiliates, which has been licensed to the Plexus group for the Pan-African region.

It will comprise of 40 shares selected using the eRAFI™ fundamental selection criteria from the JSE top 100 shares based on market capitalisation. The portfolio will be rebalanced quarterly.

Dr Prieur du Plessis, managing director of Plexus, said: “We regard our agreement with Research Affiliates not only as a coup for Plexus, but also for all South African investors.”

“The eRAFI™ methodology provides all the benefits of traditional market capitalisation-weighted indices, including diversification, liquidity, low turnover and competitive fees, while generating incrementally higher returns with lower volatility.”

With the eRAFI™ indexing method, fundamental accounting measures of company size such as sales, cash flow, book price and dividends rather than market capitalisation are used.

In addition, two screens (a quality of earnings screen and a financial distress screen) are utilised to discount weights for companies which might engage in aggressive accounting practices or may be laden with debt. The constituent weightings of the index are re-balanced on a quarterly basis.

“Together with Absa Capital’s expertise in the ETF market, we believe that we can bring products to the market that will benefit both the institutional and retail market by optimising risk/return parameters at affordable fees,” said du Plessis.

Nedeljkovic noted that the South African market, especially pension funds, are waking up to the advantages of passive index trackers, and that there will be a proliferation in both the number of ETFs listed on the JSE as well as the amount of money invested in these products over the next few years.

“eRAFITM methodology is a concept that will help shape the global investment landscape for years to come. We are therefore extremely excited about the co-operation agreement with Plexus as it allows us to use our expertise in the ETF market to bring new and innovative products to the South African market,” said Nedeljkovic.

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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.

Absa Capital ETFs and Index Products
Absa Capital is a leading originator of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the South African market. The investment bank listed and operates NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate), as well as NewGold, the first and only gold ETF in South Africa as well as the largest ETF in the SA market with R6.5billion in assets under management.

ETFs are open-ended collective investment schemes that are listed on a stock exchange and which can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

Sixteen ETFs are currently listed on the JSE, with a total market capitalisation of R15.5 billion.

About Plexus Group:
Founded in 1995, the Plexus Group of companies is an independent investment house specialising in investment consulting and the management of multi-manager investment solutions for corporate and individual clients. Plexus has distinguished itself as a pioneer in the multi-manager industry and boasts a number of research firsts, such as the PlexCrown Fund Ratings (used as the basis for the annual Raging Bull Awards for the unit trust industry) and the Plexus Unit Trust Indices.

Its main subsidiaries are:
• Plexus Asset Management (domestic investment management services)
• Plexus Global Asset Management (international investment management services)
• Plexus Investment Consulting and Plexus Fund Solutions (investment consulting services)
• Plexus Fundamental Funds (fundamental indexing)
• Plexus Mauldin Alternative Investments (hedge funds)

For more information, visit www.plexus.co.za. 

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, and its empowerment partner Vunani Capital, announced today the issuance of a R1.0bn BESA listed bond on behalf of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality (CCT).

Today’s announcement follows hot on the heels of similar announcements earlier this year with Absa Capital proving itself to be the preferred Lead Arranger by Bond Issuers.  Notable debt issues arranged by Absa Capital in the six months to date include Development Bank of South Africa, Airports Company South Africa and Telkom Limited.
 
A first for the city, the new CCT bond (CCT01) has been issued under the issuer’s newly established R7.0bn Domestic Medium Term Note (DMTN) Programme and will be listed on the Bond Exchange of South Africa on 23 June 2008. The bond will have a fixed rate coupon of 12.57% p.a., payable semi-annually.

Mike Richardson, Chief Financial Officer, CCT, indicated that the city was very pleased with the high level of interest shown by the investment community in this bond.

Richardson pointed out further that funding from the domestic bond market will contribute to the diversification of the CCT’s funding sources for its capital investment plan.

“As a client of Absa since 1929, we are exceptionally proud to have arranged the CCT DMTN Programme and its first venture into the listed debt capital markets,” said Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital. “Through this issuance we’re proud to assist CCT achieve its development strategy as a local government.”

Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Hybrids and Convertibles at Absa Capital, said that there was very strong support for the bond from local institutions with the bond achieving a subscription to the extent of 297%.

“Given the CCT’s status as one of the best performing municipalities in the country there was significant credit appetite for the CCT01,” said Els.

“Absa Capital continues to aggressively pursue the position as the country’s leading debt arranger and today’s announcement underscores that commitment,” concluded Els.

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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.

Absa Capital Leveraged Finance participated in the highest number of private equity transactions and secured the largest value of deals reported in 2007. This is according to the KPMG and SAVCA Venture Capital and Private Equity Industry Performance Survey released on Wednesday.

Absa Capital Leveraged Finance was Mandated Lead Arranger in three of the top ten largest private equity transactions reported last year. The deals included the Edcon transaction, the largest ever leveraged buy out in South Africa, as well as Steinfurn (5th), and Brandcorp (8th).

“This result, achieved in a highly competitive market, is very pleasing,” said Andrew Moffat, Absa Capital’s Head of Leveraged Finance. “It clearly demonstrates the strength of Absa Capital’s business model of offering both onshore and offshore products through its affiliation with Barclays Capital.”

In the 2006 survey Absa Capital Leverage Finance also featured prominently  on the ranking tables, although the total funding raised was significantly less at R4.4bn versus the R56bn raised in 2007.

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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.

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, dominated the ten largest private equity transactions reported in 2007. This is according to the KPMG and SAVCA Venture Capital and Private Equity Industry Performance Survey released on Wednesday night.

Absa Capital Private Equity led and/or participated in five of the top ten largest private equity transactions last year. The five deals included the Edcon transaction, the largest ever leveraged buy out in South Africa, as well as Steinfurn (5th), Tsebo Outsourcing Group (7th), Vox Telecom (9th) and Mvelaphanda Holdings (10th).

Absa Capital Private Equity was the main funder of the Vox Telekom transaction through its interest in the Lereko Metier Capital Growth Fund.

Commenting on the survey results, Andre Pieterse, Head of Private Equity at Absa Capital, said: “We are very pleased with our overall ranking and improved year-on-year performance. It goes a long way to confirming our position as a preeminent player in the South African private equity market.”

In 2006, Absa Capital Private Equity was involved in three of the top ten transactions.

“Our impressive performance in 2007 is even more noteworthy considering the phenomenal growth in total funding year-on-year,” said Pieterse.

The top ten largest reported private equity transactions in 2007 raised funding in excess of R56bn, compared to the R4.4bn in 2006.

The survey pointed out that both locally and internationally 2007 was a year characterised by ‘jumbo’ deals.

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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.

Absa Capital, a division of Absa Bank Limited, and South Africa’s only fully local and fully global investment bank, has transformed its Executive Committee through the appointment of three top female bankers to key positions on the eve of its second anniversary.

Natasha Andrykowsky and Makhosi Kunene have been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) respectively, while Hestie Loots is Absa Capital’s new Chief Risk Officer (CRO).

Commenting on the appointments, Absa Capital Chief Executive Officer, John Vitalo, said Andrykowsky, Kunene and Loots bring a wealth of experience to the Executive Committee team as well as a different and fresh perspective.

“We are particularly proud that the latest appointments to our Exco are all female. It displays Absa Capital’s very real commitment to transformation early in our development into South Africa’s leading investment bank,” said Vitalo.

Andrykowsky will drive the core, day-to-day management processes of ‘Execution’ around Absa Capital’s front office, while Kunene will play the same role on behalf of the Infrastructure team or back office.

“Execution is a system of rigorous management, which includes interlocking strategic, operating, people and transformation plans and their disciplined implementation,” said Vitalo.

Andrykowsky joined Absa Capital in May 2006 in the office of the CEO and most recently worked as business manager for the Secondary Markets Trading. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town and worked as a management consultant prior to joining Absa Capital.

Kunene joined Absa Capital in April 2006 in Strategy and Planning and has also worked in Barclays Capital Strategy and Planning in London. She holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Pretoria.

Loots holds a PhD in mathematical statistics from Potchefstroom University and has been with Absa Group for 12 years, having  joined Absa Capital two years ago.

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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.

Absa Capital, a division of Absa Bank Limited, and Barclays Bank Botswana today announced the successful issuance of the BWP70 million Botswana Vaccine Institute Pty Limited (“BVI”) debut bond in the Botswana debt capital market. The 10 year fixed rate bond was well supported by the investment community as evidenced by a subscription level of 211%.

The bond was issued under the Issuer’s BWP100 million Domestic Medium Term Note Programme. It will be listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange under bond code BVI001 with settlement on May 7th, 2008, paying a coupon of 11.23% per annum.

Stephen Van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital said Absa Capital was delighted to contribute to the growth and development of the Botswana debt capital market.

“This was the second transaction executed in the last six months by Absa Capital in Botswana. Again it has shown that investors in the Botswana market continue to display a willingness to explore other types of issuance methodology other than the traditional fixed price auction.”

“This has again resulted in greater transparency, enhanced investor demand and spread compression, resulting in a favorable outcome for our client,” said Van Coller.

According to Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Convertibles and Hybrids at Absa Capital, market conditions in Botswana are generally favourable for debt issuance with stable macro fundamentals and surplus liquidity.

“The successful placement of quality credit into the market is hardly surprising considering the shortage of long dated assets in the Botswana market. Despite a number of new issues by government and corporates in recent months, the supply of bonds is not sufficient to meet the demand from life companies and pension funds,” said Els.

Absa Capital and Barclays have a proven track record in advising on all aspects of arranging and placing debt issues in Botswana including documentation, credit marketing, investor road shows as well as placement and distribution.

This latest transaction follows the successful placement of the BBS004 BWP75 million note in November 2007 for Botswana Building Society.

Absa Capital and Barclays are currently finalising another proposed BSE listed bond transaction for a state owned enterprise in the listed Botswana debt capital market.  

Motswedi Securities acted as Joint Placing Agent along with Absa Capital on the BVI bond issue.

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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.

In a first for an exchange traded fund (ETF) in South Africa, Absa Capital today announced that its NewGold ETF is Shari’ah compliant. The Shari’ah Supervisory Board, made up of specialised jurists in Shari’ah Islamic Law, issued a ruling stating that the NewGold ETF complies with Shari’ah. As such it is in line with Islamic principles of ethical investing.

The NewGold ETF, the only commodity based ETF in the local market, is a non-interest based product investing directly in gold bullion.

The issuing company, NewGold Issuer Pty (Ltd), was incorporated for the sole purpose of issuing securities backed by gold bullion, tracking the price of gold, and is not involved in any activities that are not permitted under Shari’ah Law.

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, head of ETFs and index products at Absa Capital said the certification has opened the way for Muslim investors to gain exposure to gold through investing in a listed ETF.

Today’s announcement follows hot on the heels of the news earlier this year that NewGold had become the country’s largest ETF when it dethroned the Satrix40 from the top spot.

“Absa Capital’s NewGold ETF is the largest ETF in South Africa with R6.4bn assets under management,” said Nedeljkovic. “Since the beginning of 2007 to date, its assets under management have increased more than four times.”

NewGold was designed to track the price of gold and create a liquid, listed investment tool that is fully backed by gold bullion. 

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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.

Shari’ah Supervisory Board
Absa Islamic Bank appointed an independent Shari’ah Supervisory Board of specialised Jurists in Shari’ah Law. They are entrusted with the duty of directing, reviewing and supervising the activities of Absa Islamic Banking in order to ensure that they are in compliance with Islamic rules and principles. They are tasked to approve new products, monitor the implementation of the products and audit the Islamic banking operations.

The independent Shari’ah Supervisory Board is the custodian of Shari’ah compliance and it ensures that the Absa Islamic Bank operates in terms of Shari’ah through regular audits and board meetings at least six times a year.

Absa Islamic Banking is a member of the International Islamic standard – AAOIFI. The fatāwa and rulings of the Shari’ah Supervisory Board are binding on Absa Islamic Banking

Absa Capital, one of South Africa’s leading investment banks, and its empowerment partner Vunani Capital, announced today the issuance of a R1bn bond on behalf of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).

Today’s announcement follows similar announcements late last year where Absa Capital arranged debt on behalf of the Airports Company of South Africa and Transnet.
 
The new DBSA bond has been issued under the issuer’s new restated Domestic Medium Term Note (DMTN) Programme and will be listed on the Bond Exchange of South Africa. The bond will have a fixed coupon of 9.45% per annum, payable semi-annually.

Jacques Els, Head of Bonds, Convertibles and Hybrids at Absa Capital, said that there was very strong support for the paper from local institutions, as evidenced by the pricing of the instrument.

Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital said: “The DBSA is mandated by government to fund infrastructure development within South Africa and the rest of the Southern African Development Community.”

“As lead arranger Absa Capital was particularly proud to help ensure that this very necessary mandate is fulfilled.”

In order to fund infrastructure development the DBSA raises funding from a wide range of sources, including the domestic bond market, and this R1bn bond forms a key part of the issuer’s funding.

“Absa Capital continues to aggressively pursue the position as the country’s leading debt arranger and today’s announcement underscores that commitment,” said van Coller.
 

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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.

• One of the largest private power sector investments in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Major multilateral and bilateral development agencies provide funding
  

Absa Capital, one of two mandated lead arrangers for the commercial debt facility for the $867m Bujagali Hydropower Project in Uganda, has teamed up with its global affiliate Barclays Plc in one of the largest ever private power sector investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Anand Naidoo, Head of Power and Energy at Absa Capital, said that Absa Capital has underwritten and raised a 16-year commercial debt facility for the project and that the bank will continue to be active in Africa in the future. Absa Capital will also act as hedging bank for the facility and facility agent for the commercial debt.

“The deal marks an important step in developing Absa Capital’s African power credentials.”

 “Absa Capital with Barclays Uganda and Barclays Wealth (London) has also secured the onshore and offshore account bank mandates. In addition, Barclays Kenya has provided guarantees for the abandonment bond for sponsors and provided funding for the equity investment made into the project by Industrial Promotion Services of Kenya,” said Naidoo.

Deal sponsors, Industrial Promotion Services (part of the Aga Khan Network) and Sithe Global (majority owned by The Blackstone Group, the New York-based private equity firm), mandated Absa Capital as one of two mandated lead arrangers for the $115m commercial debt facility.

Other lenders to the project include International Finance Corporation, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, Agence Française de Développement, Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Onwikkelingslanden N.V. and Standard Chartered Bank.
             
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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.

Absa Capital’s NewGold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), has today become South Africa’s largest ETF with assets over R5.1bn, overtaking Satrix40 with assets of R4.76bn. 

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, head of ETF’s and index products at Absa Capital, said that with the listing today of an additional 4.4 million debentures (equivalent to 1.35 tones of gold bullion), NewGold Exchange Traded Fund has exceeded ZAR5.1bn in assets under management.

NewGold was designed to track the price of gold and create an investment tool to allow institutional and retail investors to invest in a liquid, listed instrument that is fully backed by gold bullion.  NewGold ETF, the only commodity ETF in the local market, was launched in November 2004 with assets under management of just under R250m . Satrix 40, tracking the performance of the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, was listed in December 2000, with the assets under management of R2.6bn

Says Nedeljkovic: “Since inception, NewGold has performed extraordinarily well, increasing the gold holdings and the assets under management manifold. 2007 and the beginning of the years were particularly strong.”

“Since the beginning of 2007, the gold holdings increased two and a half times from 10.25 tones at the beginning of 2007 to 25.93 tones after today’s additional listing. During the same period, the assets under management increased three and a half times, from R1.46bn to R5.1bn.”

Nedeljkovic said that with the gold price at an all time high, he expected a lot of investor interest in gold this year.

“Investors are certainly favouring direct investment in gold as it is less volatile and better performing than the investment in gold shares.”

The NewGold ETF invests directly in gold. The Satrix40 ETF invests in the JSE’s Top 40 shares in proportion to their market capitalisation.

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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.

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC that is affiliated to Absa Capital, today announced the launch of a family of local currency Emerging Market Government Inflation-Linked Bond (“EMGILB”) benchmark indices. This is the first time that a full family of indices has been available to asset managers and institutional investors looking for a representative benchmark for government inflation-linked debt within developing nations. They were created by the Barclays Capital Index Products Group and approved by the independent Barclays Capital Inflation-linked Index Committee. Individual indices track the performance of inflation-linked bonds issued by the sovereign governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, South Korea and Turkey.

These indices (along with the pre-existing Barclays/BESA South African Inflation-Linked Bond Index) are then utilized to create indices tracking debt within Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (EEMEA). 

All of these component indices then roll up to form the Emerging Market Government Inflation-Linked Bond benchmark index. 

Mike Bagguley, Head of Trading at Absa Capital in Johannesburg, said: “The new global EM Government Inflation-linked Bond indices are another step forward in the development of these markets and is testament to the growing demand for exposure to inflation across the globe.”

Waqas Samad, Head of Index Products at Barclays Capital commented: “These new benchmark indices complement and build on our existing family of inflation indices, underscoring Barclays Capital’s commitment to the inflation-linked market and to meeting investors’ needs for diversification in emerging markets.” 

Ralph Segreti, Global Inflation-Linked Product Manager added: “Investors need a reliable benchmark, and as the global leader in inflation-linked trading, products & indices, we were ideally placed to create a market standard.” 
 
Barclays Capital will also make customized indices available and provide support and analytics for these indices via web based and other e-commerce protocols.  The indices are calculated daily and use standard settlements and market calendars most appropriate for international investors. 

Complete index rules are available in Barclays Capital’s new Inflation-linked Emerging Markets Index Guide.

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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.

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC that is affiliated to Absa Capital, today announced the launch of a family of local currency Emerging Market Government Inflation-Linked Bond (“EMGILB”) benchmark indices. This is the first time that a full family of indices has been available to asset managers and institutional investors looking for a representative benchmark for government inflation-linked debt within developing nations. They were created by the Barclays Capital Index Products Group and approved by the independent Barclays Capital Inflation-linked Index Committee. Individual indices track the performance of inflation-linked bonds issued by the sovereign governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, South Korea and Turkey.

These indices (along with the pre-existing Barclays/BESA South African Inflation-Linked Bond Index) are then utilized to create indices tracking debt within Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (EEMEA). 

All of these component indices then roll up to form the Emerging Market Government Inflation-Linked Bond benchmark index. 

Mike Bagguley, Head of Trading at Absa Capital in Johannesburg, said: “The new global EM Government Inflation-linked Bond indices are another step forward in the development of these markets and is testament to the growing demand for exposure to inflation across the globe.”

Waqas Samad, Head of Index Products at Barclays Capital commented: “These new benchmark indices complement and build on our existing family of inflation indices, underscoring Barclays Capital’s commitment to the inflation-linked market and to meeting investors’ needs for diversification in emerging markets.” 

Ralph Segreti, Global Inflation-Linked Product Manager added: “Investors need a reliable benchmark, and as the global leader in inflation-linked trading, products & indices, we were ideally placed to create a market standard.” 
 
Barclays Capital will also make customized indices available and provide support and analytics for these indices via web based and other e-commerce protocols.  The indices are calculated daily and use standard settlements and market calendars most appropriate for international investors. 

Complete index rules are available in Barclays Capital’s new Inflation-linked Emerging Markets Index Guide.

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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.

Absa Capital and Vunani Capital have announced an extension of initial public offer for NewSA, South Africa’s first BEE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to the 12th of October 2007.

The closing date was originally set for September 19th 2007.

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of Hybrids at Absa Capital says, “We’ve had a lot of interest in the NewSA ETF so in order to afford institutional investors further opportunity to obtain the mandates and/or authorisations necessary for investment, we have extended the closing date of the initial offer to 12 noon on the 12th of October 2007.”

Private investors will of course also be able to take advantage of the extra time to apply.

NewSA is a portfolio in NewFunds Collective Investment Scheme, a 50/50 joint venture between BEE company Vunani Capital and Absa Capital and is the first investment product to give investors the opportunity to reward and recognise transformation.

The NewSA ETF will track the performance of the NewSA Index, a modified Top40 index, with the constituent weightings adjusted to reflect their respective BEE status, as determined using the Codes of Good Practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, published by the Department of Trade and Industry.

It is aimed at institutional investors, fund and asset managers as well as high net worth individuals wanting to increase their exposure to blue-chip companies listed on the JSE with high black economic empowerment (BEE) ratings.

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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.

About Vunani Capital

• Vunani Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vunani Capital Holdings
• The Vunani group is a black owned and managed financial services group  that was established in 1998.  A management buy-out from its holding company in 2004 led to the introduction of a strategic equity partner in the form of Absa Bank, a subsidiary of Barclays Bank 
• The group is positioned as an investment banking boutique

Vunani is involved in:

• Securities trading and research (equities, bonds and money market)
• Property investment and property development
• Private equity
• Investment banking
• Alternative asset management
• Corporate advisory (Equity and Debt Capital Markets)

Absa Capital, one of South Africa’s leading investment banks, and Vunani Capital are to launch South Africa’s first BEE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on September 19th 2007 creating an investable BEE financial instrument.

The fund, called NewSA, is a portfolio in NewFunds Collective Investment Scheme, a 50/50 joint venture between BEE company Vunani Capital and Absa Capital and is the first investment product to give investors the opportunity to reward and recognise transformation.

It is aimed at institutional investors, fund and asset managers as well as high net worth individuals wanting to increase their exposure to blue-chip companies listed on the JSE with high black economic empowerment (BEE) ratings.

The NewSA ETF will track the performance of the NewSA Index, a modified Top40 index, with the constituent weightings adjusted to reflect their respective BEE status, as determined using the Codes of Good Practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, published by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The empowerment scores of the NewSA Index constituents are provided by Empowerdex, an independent empowerment rating agency, and the Index itself is independently calculated by the FTSE and the JSE.

John Vitalo, CEO of Absa Capital said: “The NewSA ETF allows market forces to reward transformation by allocating relatively more funds to those companies in the Top 40 with a higher broad-based empowerment rating.

“I’m extremely proud of the NewSA ETF, which captures our belief in transformation as an essential driver of growth, as well as our ability to help effect transformation through financial innovation.”

Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of Hybrids at Absa Capital says that NewSA will appeal to people who have a positive sentiment towards South Africa and its growth opportunities and provide investors a clear means of supporting BEE in South Africa without forgoing investment performance.

“NewSA ETF will offer a convenient and cost-effective investment option for institutional investors - especially those managing governmental and para-governmental investment vehicles, but also other fund and asset managers with a mandate to gain exposure to BEE companies,” said Nedeljkovic.

The structure of the NewSA fund minimises risk through the diversification benefits of its 40 shares, is liquid, traded as shares, with no restrictions on entry and exit, and is cost effective and transparent.

The fee structure is based on a sliding scale, with management fees as low as 0.15% per annum for large investors. In addition, normal brokerage and statutory costs apply the same as they would for any other instrument listed on the JSE. 

Ethan Dube, CEO of Vunani Group said: “We believe in the prosperity of the new South Africa and want to endorse initiatives that enable the development of the country. By supporting companies that are represented in the NewSA Index, the fund indirectly enables investors to endorse the country’s growth.”

Nedeljkovic notes that NewSA is likely to provide sound return as the companies in the fund are SA’s top performers.

NewSA Securities in issue are covered by physical holding of NewSA Index constituent shares. The underlying shares are held in a trust (NewSA Trust) with independent Trustees. The JSE has guaranteed settlement of all NewSA trades on the JSE.  
 
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COMPOSITION OF THE NEWSA INDEX

Constituent security	JSE Code	Relative weight	No. of Constituent Shares per Basket
BHP Billiton Plc	BIL	16.15%	19 716
MTN Group Limited	MTN	10.04%	24 880
SABMiller Plc	SAB	8.54%	10 972
Anglo American Plc	AGL	7.10%	4 301
Old Mutual Plc	OML	6.78%	73 756
Standard Bank Group Limited	SBK	6.31%	15 085
Sasol Limited	SOL	5.69%	5 059
FirstRand Limited	FSR	5.17%	56 014
Impala Platinum Holdings Limited	IMP	4.63%	6 131
Gold Fields Limited	GFI	3.42%	7 783
The Bidvest Group Limited	BVT	2.65%	4 653
Sanlam Limited	SLM	2.56%	30 138
Telkom SA Limited	TKG	2.27%	3 361
Remgro Limited	REM	2.15%	2 937
Anglogold Ashanti Limited	ANG	2.09%	1 871
Absa Group Limited	ASA	1.89%	3 513
Nedbank Group Limited	NED	1,49%	2 762
Imperial Holdings Limited	IPL	1.26%	2 263
Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited	HAR	1.22%	4 668
Tiger Brands Limited	TBS	1.06%	1 450
Investec PLC	INP	0.88%	2 763
Network Healthcare Holdings Ltd	NTC	0.88%	16 487
Anglo Platinum Limited	AMS	0.83%	226
Sappi Limited	SAP	0.81%	1 864
Woolworths Holdings Limited	WHL	0.54%	6 640
Investec Limited	INL	0.52%	1 632
Murray Roberts Holdings Ltd	MUK	0.49%	1 725
African Rainbow Minerals Limited	ARI	0.43%	953
Steinhoff International Holdings Limited	SHF	0.37%	4 067
Liberty Group Limited	LGL	0.35%	989
Exxaro Resources Limited	EXX	0.25%	838
Naspers Limited	NPN	0.21%	302
Mittal Steel Africa Limited	MLA	0.20%	381
Kumba Iron Ore Limited	KIO	0.17%	202
Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited	PPC	0.16%	863
Barloworld Limited	BAW	0.13%	266
Lonmin Plc	LON	0.13%	67
Mondi Limited	MND	0.13%	473
RMB Holdings Limited	RMH	0.05%	393
Compagnie Financiere Richement	RCH	0.00%	0
Liberty International Plc	LBT	0.00%	0

 

Index Level: 24 280.19
Basket value: R24 280 10
The Constituent Shares set out above are extracted from the latest available information as at 24 August 2007 and are included for information purposes only. For accurate information on the Constituent Shares, the number of Constituent Securities in one Basket, the Basket value and the Index Level, consult the NewFunds website: www.newfunds.co.za.

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.

About Vunani Capital

• Vunani Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vunani Capital Holdings
• The Vunani group is a black owned and managed financial services group  that was established in 1998.  A management buy-out from its holding company in 2004 led to the introduction of a strategic equity partner in the form of Absa Bank, a subsidiary of Barclays Bank 
• The group is positioned as an investment banking boutique

Vunani is involved in:

• Securities trading and research (equities, bonds and money market)
• Property investment and property development
• Private equity
• Investment banking
• Alternative asset management
• Corporate advisory (Equity and Debt Capital Markets)

Absa Capital, one of South Africa’s leading investment banks, today listed South Africa’s first basket futures instruments on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in response to growing local and international demand for innovative derivative products.

Basket futures are futures on a basket of equities and give buyers representative exposure to the underlying index by imitating the share price movement in that sector.

The new product is now available because of ‘Can-Do’ futures that were recently introduced by the exchange. ‘Can-do’ futures allow the listing of customised futures products such as basket futures.

Absa Capital has listed 7 baskets: retail, construction, banks, platinum, gold, travel and real estate.

They are aimed at institutional and retail investors and designed to give clients liquid, leveraged and cost effective exposure to certain sectors. The basket prices will be publicly quoted on SAFEX and its clearing members will guarantee all trades as per normal.

Basket futures, like index futures will be cash settled.

Jared Coetzer from the Absa Capital Equity Derivatives Sales desk says: “These baskets diversify the share specific risk through the exposure to multiple shares within a specific sector. Investors will therefore be able to have access a sector or theme with only one trade making it a highly cost effective way to gain exposure to a sector or theme.”

Dealing costs are the same as single stock futures.

Coetzer says that the equities within the basket will have an initial weighting based on the market capitalisation within each index at the time of listing. 

“But these weightings will change as the prices of the equities fluctuate throughout the life of the future.”

The basket is created according to a set of rules which enable Absa Capital to give representative exposure to a sector or theme by imitating the index through the purchase of a future on at least 3 but no more than 6 equities.

Investors wanting to trade in the basket futures will deal though the Absa Capital dealing desk.

Coetzer notes that Absa Capital drew on its global affiliation with Barclays Capital and advanced local technology platforms to bring basket futures to the SA market because worldwide there has been strong growth in demand for derivatives.

“We attribute this to continued competition and growth in the hedge fund industry - which use derivatives extensively – because of increasing pressure to utilize all tools possible to generate returns.

The JSE is now running the largest Single Stock Futures Market in the world.

Between January and March 2007 the JSE traded more than 44 million contracts.

The next biggest market was India with 30 million contacts being traded in the same period.
 
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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.

The baskets are as follows:

Retail Basket
Massmart	MSM	21.27%
Foschini	FOS	16.11%
JD Group	JDG	14.50%
Truworths	TRU	16.83%
Woolies	WHL	20.18%
Ellerines	ELH	11.11%

Construction Basket
Aveng	AEG	25.99%
Group5	GRF	6.21%
Murray and Roberts	MUR	32.00%
PPC	PPC	29.53%
WBHO	WBO	6.27%

Bank Basket
Absa Bank	ASA	12.77%
First Rand	FSR	28.42%
Standard Bank	SBK	41.18%
Nedbank	NED	8.82%
Rand Merchant Bank	RMH	8.81%

Platinum Basket
Anglo Platinum	AMS	39.41%
Northam NHM	NHM	4.12%
Impala Platinum	IMP	56.47%

Gold Basket
Anglogold	ANG	37.32%
Harmony	HAR	16.11%
GoldFields	GFI	46.58%

Travel Basket
Sun International	SUI	76.10%
City Lodge Hotels	CLH	12.90%
Goldreef	GDF	11.00%

Real Estate Basket
Lib-Int	LBT	65.57%
GRT	GRT	17.29%
Fountain Head	FPT	6.78%
SA Corporate	SAC	5.31%
Hyprop	HYP	5.05%

Absa Capital today announced a partnership with local investment manager Plexus Asset Management on a new JSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that will for the first time weight shares based on fundamental valuation metrics thereby avoiding the inherent shortfalls of traditional market capitalisation weightings used by existing ETF’s.

With the RAFI™ indexing method, fundamental accounting measures of company size such as sales, cash flow, book price and dividends rather than market capitalisation are used.

Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic, head of hybrid products of Absa Capital says, “The problem with market capitalisation method of indexing is that it overweights stocks that are overvalued in the market and underweights stocks that are undervalued – the opposite of good investment practice. An index portfolio will participate in every market bubble and will plunge with every market correction.”  

The RAFI™ methodology provides all the benefits of traditional market capitalisation-weighted indices, including diversification, liquidity, low turnover and competitive fees, while generating incrementally higher returns with lower volatility.

“By avoiding the inherent valuation bias of capitalisation weighting, RAFI™ strategies have outperformed cap-weighted index strategies by more than 2,5% per annum internationally in over 23 mature stock markets and significantly more in emerging markets over extended measurement periods,” says Nedeljkovic.

The new ETF will be compiled using the innovative enhanced Research Affiliates Fundamental IndexTM (RAFITM) approach to portfolio construction pioneered by California-based Research Affiliates, which has been licensed to the Plexus group for the Pan-African region.
Dr Prieur du Plessis, managing director of Plexus, says: “We regard our agreement with Research Affiliates not only as a coup for Plexus, but also for South African investors.

“Together with Absa Capital’s expertise in the ETF market, we believe that we can bring products to the market that will benefit both the institutional and retail market by optimising risk/return parameters at affordable fees.”       

Absa Capital is a leading originator of ETFs in the South African market. The company listed and operates NewRand, the first ETF in South Africa based on a proprietary investible index (the NewRand Index, comprising rand hedge stocks with the highest correlation with the Rand/USD exchange rate), as well as NewGold, the first gold ETF in South Africa and only the third in the world.

Dr Nedeljkovic says: “We believe that the South African market, and especially pension funds, are waking up to the advantages of passive index trackers, and that there will be a proliferation in both the number of ETFs listed on the JSE as well as the amount of money invested in these products over the next few years.

“RAFITM is a concept that will help shape the global investment landscape for years to come. We are therefore extremely excited about the co-operation agreement with Plexus as it allows us to use our expertise in the ETF market to bring new and innovative products to the South African market.”

Exchange-traded funds (or ETFs) are open-ended collective investment schemes that are listed on a stock exchange and which can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index, a market sector such as resources or financials, or a commodity such as gold.

Nine ETFs are currently listed on the JSE, with a total market capitalisation of just under R11 billion.

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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.

Absa Bank, one of South Africa’s leading banks, today defied the global credit market worries with a successful R3.225bn launch of its Home Programme Series 1 home loans securitisation programme.

Paul Bowes, Head of Group Funding & Liquidity Management at Absa Bank said the issue was 1.23 times oversubscribed with total bids received of nearly R4bn.

“The decision to proceed with the transaction was not taken lightly, given the recent credit market turmoil that was triggered by losses in the US sub-prime home loan market,” said Bowes. 

“But it was encouraging how strong the demand for this paper was given that the troubles we’ve seen in mortgage markets abroad. Its success reflects the strong confidence in the South African banking industry and level of conservativeness in its lending criteria that people are so keen to take up this paper in the face of a global credit crunch.”

The issue was broadly taken up by South Africa’s leading fund managers and local investors.

“These credit spreads achieved have taken account of the credit worries but overall we are very pleased with the price achieved.”

Absa Capital issued AAA 3 Year Notes at 45 basis points credit spread over Jibar and 5 year AAA notes at 50 bps over 3 month Jibar.

Bowes noted that so far the sub prime fallout has had little impact on Absa’s business, nor had it dampened investor demand for home loan securitisation investment in South Africa.

Gavin Opperman, Managing Executive of Absa Home Loans said: “We are satisfied with the outcome of this inaugural issue from HOMES. 

“The good result of the issue is also indicative of Absa’s market leading position in the South African residential mortgage market and the good standing that it has in the market for sound lending practises and building long-term relationships with its customers.”

The Home Programme Series 1 issuance falls under Absa Bank’s R20bn securitisation programme through which the bank has issued securitised home loans and instalment sales agreements.

In future, Absa Bank will be looking at securitising parts its credit cards and commercial property finance portfolios.

So far Absa Bank has issued over R8.5bn rand of securitised assets over the last year as part of our key strategic initiative for to diversify our funding base to support asset growth.  

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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.    

Absa Capital, the investment banking arm of Absa Group, has appointed Paul Bijleveld as the Head of its Investment Banking Division.

To be based in Johannesburg, Paul will be responsible for investment banking client relationship coverage of Absa Capital’s corporate clients.  His appointment demonstrates Absa Capital’s and Barclays Capital’s strong and ongoing commitment to becoming the leading investment bank in South Africa.

With more than 20 years of experience in investment banking, Paul comes to Absa Capital from Barclays Capital in Amsterdam where he is currently the Head of Investment Banking for the Netherlands.  Prior to that he held the same position at Morgan Stanley in London.  Bijleveld has also worked at UBS and ABN AMRO.

He holds a law degree from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

Commenting on the new appointment, John Vitalo, Chief Executive Officer of Absa Capital, said: “This move attests to the significant opportunities we see for the firm in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa in general and the importance we attach to the continued growth and success of Absa Capital.”

Bijleveld said “I am excited to join the management team working to build Absa Capital into the premier South African investment bank by providing clients investment banking service of a scope and calibre that is unparalleled in the South African marketplace.  The opportunities in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa for a stronger brand of investment banking are tremendous.”

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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.

Senior economist Chris Hart is to leave Absa Capital today after 9 years with the Absa Group.

Jeff Gable, Head of Research at Absa Capital, said that Hart was a valuable member of the comprehensive, now 5-strong research team.

“Chris is a well respected economist and will be taking up a new opportunity at a valued Absa Capital client. We thank Chris for his considerable efforts here and wish him every success in his new endeavours.”

Absa Capital, with a total staff of over 800, offers financing, risk management and advisory services to a wide spectrum of clients in South Africa and the rest of Africa including large corporates, institutional investors, the public sector and BEE financiers.

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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.

The implementation of Basel II next year will introduce new Tier I capital rules which could see banks shift away from preference shares and into more cost-efficient hybrid capital financing for their Tier I capital needs.

Kate Rushton, corporate analyst at Absa Capital, one of South Africa’s leading investments banks, says that this could mean a drought of new bank preference share issuance in 2008.

Non-redeemable, non-cumulative preference shares currently form an integral part of banks’ capital structure and are generally issued to maintain a cost effective Tier I capital base.

“Preference share prices have come under considerable pressure since Q2 2006 as a combination of higher local interest rates and aggressive supply has impacted the market.”
Rushton says that according to the current banking regulation, non-cumulative, non-redeemable perpetual preference shares can constitute up to 20% of the Tier I capital.

“However, for the big four banks, preference shares as a percentage of Tier I is only an average 12.7%, although ideally, this percentage should be kept at 20% to achieve the optimal cost of capital.

“The reasons behind this, seemingly irrational behaviour by the issuers lie in the limited size of the mostly retail, investor market, compounded by the negative investor sentiment surrounding this asset.

“This is caused by the uncertainty regarding tax treatment of dividends as well as capital losses experienced, due to a glut of issuance in the context of rising interest rates.”

Rushton notes however that the landscape may well change within the next twelve months.

“Changes in banking regulations emanating from Basel II may allow hybrid capital issues to form part of Tier I capital from 2008.

“According to the new rules, the total amount of preference shares and hybrid debt instruments would not be able to exceed 25% of Tier I with hybrid capital capped to 15% of Tier I.”

Draft 4 of the proposed changes to the Banks Act in accordance with Basel II, states that hybrid Tier I instruments are likely to be characterised as non-cumulative, perpetual instruments, callable after year 5 (with coupon step up after year 10) and senior only to ordinary shares.

In addition, issuers will most likely be allowed to deduct tax on coupon payments.

Rushton points that this will impact the preference share market in two ways.

“First, the investor base will change. Preference share investors are largely limited to high net worth individuals and specialist funds. Hybrid capital investors will extend to the institutional market, domestic and international.

“Second, hybrid capital issues will most likely prove to be more cost efficient for the issuer.

“According to our calculations, the after-tax cost of a preference share at approximately 9.79% would be competing against an indicative after tax cost of 6.82% for hybrid capital.

“These factors could lead to a preference share drought in 2008 as banks turn to hybrids as an alternate form of funding.”

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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.

Absa Capital has recently completed its first private equity mining deal and plans to further capitalise on the commodities supercycle through investing in a Mining Fund for equity financing in the sector.

Andre Pieterse, Head of Equity Investments at Absa Capital one South Africa’s leading investment banks, says Absa Capital has recently completed a first for the investment bank through its financing of Wesizwe, a platinum exploration company, which plans to start extracting platinum group metals in 2009 on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex in the North West Province. 

The deal was financed by Absa Capital through its strategic BEE associate Vunani in which Absa Capital has a 20% equity stake.

“The deal represents part of Absa Capital's strategy to increase its mining exposure, along with its BEE partners, in order to participate in the current metals and commodities supercycle,” says Pieterse.

“And it’s the beginning of a trend for us as we see great potential in the sector and expect a lot of value to be unlocked in the coming years.

“Previously Absa Capital took a 8.8% stake in the New Africa Mining Fund. Absa Capital and Decorum Capital Partners are working closely to launch the New Africa Mining Fund 11. This will focus on financing equity for mining companies.”

Pieterse says that there is a lot of investor interest in Platinum Group Metals at the moment as prices have reached historic highs and listed stock in the sector is enjoying great demand.

“We therefore expect further consolidation of assets in the industry.”

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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.

Absa Capital, one of South Africa’s leading investment banks, has welcomed the closing of the R25bn Edcon private equity buyout deal but says more leveraged finance deals in SA are likely.

Today is the scheme completion date which represents the closing of the transaction, the country’s biggest ever leveraged buy out. Shareholders will be paid out this week. Edcon shares were delisted from the JSE last week.

Barclays Capital and Absa Capital were mandated to arrange and underwrite the debt financing supporting the public-to-private acquisition of Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited (Edcon) by Bain Capital.

Stephen van Coller, Head of Primary Markets at Absa Capital, says the transaction is, in addition to being the largest ever South African LBO, the second largest ever acquisition (after Barclays’ acquisition of Absa).

“The transaction will be funded with a firmly committed financing package of long-term debt and equity.

“A large Barclays Capital and Absa Capital team have worked closely together to deliver this integrated financing package. The transaction is a high profile, cross product and geography, jumbo mandate which Barclays Capital and Absa Capital were uniquely placed to secure.”

Van Coller notes that he expects the momentum created by the Edcon deal to precipitate more private equity deals in the future.

“South African companies have very low levels of debt. Historically, they didn’t borrow because they didn’t have to. Hence South African companies have average net debt/equity ratios of 7% compared to 45% and 32% in Europe and the US respectively.”

Van Coller says that in SA today, large numbers of consumers have entered, and will continue to enter the mainstream economy for the first time.

“As a result, companies are looking at ways to of beefing up their capacity to meet this new demand and given the relative stability of interest rates and the rand, they considering leverage finance as a means of funding acquisitions and capital expenditure programmes.

“We’ll also see, through the use of leveraged finance, more BEE transactions, not for minority stakes, but majority control. This will enable the further transfer of meaningful economic participation to previously disadvantaged individuals.”

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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.

Absa Capital, South Africa’s leading investment bank, has welcomed The Security Regulation’s Panel (SRP) ruling that Absa Capital’s valuation of the Shoprite Group was independent. 

Craig Brewer of Absa Capital says that the Executive Committee of the Panel unanimously dismissed the objection that the valuation by Absa Capital cannot be considered as an independent valuation of the Shoprite Group.

Say Brewer: “Absa Capital was appointed by the board of Shoprite in order to provide an opinion to the board of Shoprite on the terms and conditions of the firm intention to make an offer received by Shoprite.

“We therefore gave a preliminary opinion on 23 November 2006 based on information available to Absa Capital as at that date and resultantly, Absa Capital’s preliminary opinion has not been withdrawn, it has become outdated due to the passing of time.

“The Shoprite circular to shareholders, in which the Absa Capital’s opinion letter would have been set out, was originally due to be issued in December 2006, but as yet has not been issued.

“On receipt of updated information, Absa Capital will update its valuation and opinion taking into account the final transaction agreements, market conditions and other relevant information.”

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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.