RIYADH, Sept 8 (Nyongesa Sande) – Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has attracted more than $7 billion in orders for its planned 10-year U.S. dollar-denominated bond, according to fixed-income news service IFR.
The nearly $1 trillion fund is expected to price the benchmark-sized issuance later on Monday. Initial price guidance has been set at around 120 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, market sources said.
The offering comes just a week after Saudi Arabia raised $5.5 billion from the sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, which drew strong investor demand and allowed the kingdom to tighten pricing significantly.
The new bond is designed to strengthen the PIF’s financing position after the fund reported an $8 billion write-down on several of its high-profile gigaprojects – vast developments central to Saudi Arabia’s diversification drive under Vision 2030.
Citi, HSBC, and JPMorgan have been mandated as joint global coordinators for the deal. Bank of China, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, ICBC, and Standard Chartered are serving as joint active bookrunners.
The bond is expected to be benchmark-sized, typically understood as at least $500 million, but investor orders suggest strong demand for a larger issuance.
