Gabon launches buyback for remainder of its $605 mln 2025 Eurobond

Gabon has launched an offer to repurchase, at face value, the $315 million outstanding on its 2025 Eurobond (US362420AC51=TE) maturing in June, it said in a document published on Monday.

The oil-producing Central Africa country also said it will sell up to $570 million in new dollar-denominated notes through a private placement.

Its bonds rallied after the announcement, with the 2025 maturity rising by 1.5 cents to bid at 99.08 on the dollar. The 2031 maturities (US362420AD35=TE), (US362420AE18=TE) also gained around 1.5 cents each.

In November, Gabon said it had closed a deal to buy back $290 million of the $605 million Eurobond. That offer was oversubscribed, with more than two-thirds of those holding the bonds seeking to participate in the buyback.

Investors have until the close of business on Feb. 14 to submit their tender offers, the government said, and the results will be announced before settlement of the transaction on Feb. 19.

The buybacks are part of a strategy by the new government, which took power in a 2023 coup that ended nearly 60 years of rule by one family, to manage the debt taken on by the previous regime. The country will hold a presidential election on April 12.