MARKET NEWS

GABORONE, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Stanbic Bank Botswana, a unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, said on Friday it was selling a 20% stake through an initial public offering that will list the lender on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

• The offer comprises 319.4 million existing shares priced at 4.30 pula apiece, valuing the transaction at about 1.37 billion pula ($94 million), it said in a statement.
• Stanbic Africa Holdings is selling the shares and will retain an 80% stake in the unit following the transaction.
• Of the shares on offer, 63.9 million are available to retail investors and the remainder to institutional investors.
• The lender said the listing was aimed at broadening local ownership, promoting citizen economic empowerment and deepening participation in Botswana’s capital markets.
• The public offer closes on November 27, with the shares expected to begin trading on December 7.
• The IPO is the third share offer on the local bourse in recent weeks following a decade-long drought in new listings.

($1 = 14.5773 pulas)