The source said the proposed bond must still be approved by the Capital Markets Authority.

KIPCO is considering a local currency bond issue worth up to 80 million dinars ($290 million) with a maturity of three to seven years, Capital Standards rating agency said in a statement on its website.

It said the structure of the issue and pricing of the proposed bond had yet to be finalized, but it rated the potential bond BBB+, subject to review based on the final prospectus.

A KIPCO spokesman was not immediately reachable.

In June, KIPCO’s chief financial officer said any fund-raising would be linked to investment opportunities or to optimising funding costs.

KIPCO has total repayments in 2011 of $634 million, the company said in April, including a $350 million bond which was repaid that month and a club deal worth $300 million due in July, as well as a number of smaller term loan amortizations.

The company’s last bond issue under its Euro medium term notes (EMTN) program was a 10-year $500 million bond in July last year at 9.5 percent.