SABIC, the largest listed company in the Gulf, has hired
HSBC, J.P. Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland as bookrunners for the bond sale,
its Chief Financial Officer Mutlaq Al-Morished told Reuters on Monday.
When asked how much the company expected to raise from
the sale, Al-Morished declined to give an estimate: "We shall see; it
depends on the markets."
A typical benchmark bond is for a minimum of $500
million. The SABIC bond will be listed in London.
SABIC said in May it was planning the bond issue before
the end of June. Moody's ratings agency said then it would assign the bond an
"A+" rating and said the proceeds would be used to repay debt at
SABIC Innovative Plastic Holding, formerly GE Plastics.
But the chemicals firm later said it was "not
desperate" to issue a bond, as jittery investors continued their sell-off
in global markets.
SABIC Capital was set up in 2008 to look after the
financing and tax operations of SABIC's investments in Europe and the United
States.
Fitch Ratings has also assigned SABIC Capital's proposed
guaranteed bonds an expected "A+" rating.
