By Saudi Aramco said on Monday it had hired banks for a multitranche U.S. dollardenominated bond issuance, as the worlds largest oil company seeks cash amid lower oil prices.
Gulf issuers have show no sign of slowing this years blitz of issues on international debt markets as they work to plug finances hit by weaker oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.
Issuances from the region so far this year have already shot through 2019s record, again surpassing 100 billion.
Goldman Sachs, Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and NCB Capital were hired to arrange investor calls starting on Monday before the planned transaction, Aramco said in a bourse filing.
Other banks involved in the deal include BNP Paribas, BOC International, BofA Securities, Credit Agricole, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC Nikko and Societe Generale, a document issued by one of the banks on the deal showed.
The oil giant, which made its debut in the international debt markets last year by raising 12 billion after receiving more than 100 billion in orders, did not detail the size of the latest proposed issuance.
It planned a benchmark multitranche offering consisting of tranches for three, five, 10, 30 andor 50 years, subject to market conditions, the document said. Benchmark bonds are generally at least 500 million per tranche.
The backdrop is supportive, said a debt banker on the deal, citing a 1 billion Islamic bond issuance last week from Dubai Islamic Bank, which achieved record low yields….
