Spurred by price rally, oil exporter Angola sells new bonds

By Duncan Miriri and Alexander Winning

March 24 (Reuters) - Angola has launched the sale of two Eurobonds, together with buyback offers for its 2028 notes, the government said on Tuesday, as the oil-exporting nation stands to benefit from energy price rises linked to the Iran war.

Since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began at the end of last month, some African issuers that are deemed riskier than Angola have experienced higher borrowing costs.

Angola's dollar bonds by contrast have tightened against U.S. Treasuries.

GOOD TIMING, ANALYST SAYS

"The timing makes sense as it is one of the best performing bonds post the outbreak of the conflict and they have $1.5 billion of issuance in their budget for this year," said Leo Morawiecki of asset manager Aberdeen.

"Let's not forget that they run a primary and current account surplus," he said.

The government in Luanda has factored a price of $61 per barrel of oil this year, he said, which puts the country in a strong position since the price of crude LCOc1 has surged to above $100 a barrel on supply concerns caused by the war.

The government will accept tender offers for its $1.75 billion notes due in 2028, it said in a regulatory notice to the London Stock Exchange.

The purchase price in the tender offer is $1,020 per $1,000 of the original principal amount of the notes accepted for purchase.

Alongside the buyback, Angola will issue two new bonds maturing in 2033 and 2037. The joint lead managers are Citi, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered.

The war in Iran has led to a surge in global borrowing costs, causing concerns that riskier borrowers, many of which are located in Africa, could be locked out of the market.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, which said before the Iran conflict started that it would make its market debut with a $750 million Eurobond next month, has not commented on how that plan will be affected by the war.