Liquid dodges debt crunch - at a hefty price - Hardy Pemhiwa — Cassava Technologies and Liquid Intelligent Technologies CEO Hardy Pemhiwa

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has completed a US$660-million (R10.8-billion) refinancing that neutralises the near-term default risk that was hanging over the pan-African fibre operator – but at a sharply higher cost of capital than it was paying before.

The centrepiece of the deal is a US$300-million senior secured bond, listed on Euronext Dublin and due in 2031. The bond, which was oversubscribed 2.5 times, replaces a $620-million bond that had been set to mature in September this year and that carried a coupon of 5.5%.

According to a separate statement from Liquid earlier this month, the new bond was priced at a fixed coupon of 10.75%/year – a figure not disclosed in Monday’s announcement. In effect, Liquid has paid up heavily to escape a debt maturity wall that had triggered a series of credit-rating downgrades in 2024 and 2025.

Alongside the bond, Liquid has secured a $150-million US dollar-denominated syndicated term loan led by Ninety One – via its own funds and the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund – together with Mauritius Commercial Bank.

A separate $210-million rand-denominated syndicated term loan was provided by Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank, Standard Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Cassava Technologies, Liquid’s parent, has injected an additional $195-million in fresh equity.

JPMorgan, Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the bond.

Downgrades

The bond closes out the second phase of a refinancing that began in February, when Liquid used $410-million in new syndicated credit and a Cassava equity injection to repay earlier facilities maturing this February.

The refinancing caps what had become an increasingly fraught 18 months for Liquid’s credit profile. As of August 2025, the company had $131-million outstanding on a rand-denominated term loan due in February 2026, alongside the $620-million bond due in September.

Moody’s cut Liquid’s corporate family rating from Caa1 to Caa2 in November 2025, citing mounting concerns about the company’s ability to refinance those maturities. Fitch had downgraded the company to CCC+ in July 2024, warning it might fail to generate enough cash to cover its debts.

Read: Cassava’s African ‘AI factory’ to cost up to $720-million

Those downgrades placed Liquid deep in sub-investment-grade territory and prompted warnings that the pan-African fibre group was in financial trouble. Commentary in the regional press described retrenchments and strain at a company that had grown rapidly across the continent but now faced a harsher funding environment.

Fitch upgraded Liquid ahead of the bond launch and Moody’s has placed the issuer on review for upgrade – agency actions that softened the landing and helped clear the deal through a sceptical market.

Anchor orders came from development finance institutions, including Germany’s DEG. DFI participation at that level reflects a view that Liquid’s 115 000km fibre network, spanning more than 25 African countries, is strategically important to the continent’s digital build-out. Liquid has also expanded into cloud services and cybersecurity through partnerships with global players, and its parent Cassava has been positioning the group’s data centre and AI infrastructure assets for a broader growth push.

Hardy Pemhiwa, group CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies — who is also president and group CEO of Cassava Technologies — said in a statement that the refinancing was “a significant milestone, not just financially, but strategically”.

Read: Sweeping management changes at Cassava Technologies

“A stronger, more sustainable balance sheet gives Liquid the platform it needs to pursue the full scope of digital transformation opportunities across Africa, from fibre and cloud to cybersecurity and AI-enabled infrastructure,” he said.

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