PIF’s GBP 650 mn bond offering is 6x oversubscribed

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) priced its inaugural GBP bond sale, with the GBP 650 mn offering more than 6x oversubscribed, the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement yesterday. The bond sale, issued under PIF’s existing EUR Medium-Term Note program, “is part of PIF’s strategy to continually diversify its funding sources,” the statement read.

The specifics: The two-tranche issuance consisted of one GBP 300 mn (SAR 1.4 bn) tranche with a five-year maturity, and a GBP 350 mn (SAR 1.7 bn) tranche with a 15-year tenor, according to the statement. PIF holds an A1 credit rating from Moody’s with a positive outlook and an A+ rating from Fitch with a stable outlook, it added. PIF didn’t specify the final pricing of the offering.

Background: The PIF has reportedly been considering more global bond sales and IPOs as it looks to ramp up the pace of investment as the Kingdom’s treasury prepares to run deficits through 2026 and pace out the implementation of some aspects of select Vision 2030 projects. The fund plans to ramp up annual deployment capacity to USD 70 bn a year starting 2026, up from a current annual spending clip of USD 40-50 bn. PIF has raised USD 7 bn since the start of the year from two debt sales.

ADVISORS- The sovereign wealth fund tapped our friends at HSBC as well as Barclays, BNP Paribas, and JPMorgan as joint global coordinators, while BofA Securities, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank AG were hired as joint active bookrunners.