Vukile raises R1.1bn in oversubscribed debt auction
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Specialist retail real estate investment trust Vukile Property Fund has raised R1.1 billion through an oversubscribed debt auction that drew R3.65 billion in bids.
Specialist retail real estate investment trust (Reit) Vukile Property Fund has completed an oversubscribed debt auction, securing R1.1 billion in senior unsecured floating-rate notes at margins well below initial price guidance.
The corporate bond auction attracted R3.65 billion in total bids, leaving the issuance more than 3.3 times subscribed across 17 diverse institutional investors. The auction achieved a weighted average margin of 102 basis points over the South African Rand Overnight Index Average (Zaronia) across three maturity tranches, settling on 27 August 2026.
All three tranches cleared materially inside the lower end of initial guidance, lowering Vukile's overall cost of debt while extending its maturity profile. FirstRand Bank Limited, through its Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) division, acted as the sole lead arranger.
Maurice Shapiro, group head of treasury at Vukile, said the positive pricing achieved across all three tranches continues to lower Vukile's cost of debt while extending its maturity profile. The strong primary market demand follows GCR Ratings' July review, which reaffirmed Vukile's national scale long-term issuer rating at AA+(ZA) and its short-term rating at A1+(ZA), both with a stable outlook.
Trishalia Naidoo, co-head of DCM at RMB, added that the strong investor interest, with 17 diverse bidders participating and a subscription cover ratio of 3.3 times, reflects Vukile's continued standing as a regular and credible issuer in the debt capital markets.