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29 March 2024

Ipic to price benchmark-size three-tranche bond tomorrow

Published
By Reuters/Staff

International Petroleum Investment Co. (Ipic), an investment vehicle owned by the Abu Dhabi government, plans to price a three-tranche, dual-currency bond on Tuesday, arranging banks said on Monday.

Ipic, rated AA, plans to issue a three-year dollar-denominated portion, and two euro-denominated pieces carrying maturities of 5.5 and 10.5 years.

All three tranches will be benchmark-sized, which is typically understood to mean at least $500 million.

BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Natixis, RBS and Unicredit are joint bookrunners on the deal.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings on Monday assigned Ipic GMTN Limited's upcoming notes issue an expected senior unsecured rating of 'AA'. The notes are irrevocably and unconditionally guaranteed by the International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) ('AA'/Stable/'F1+'). Fitch will assign a final rating upon receipt of final documentation confirming information already received.

Ipic's ratings are aligned with Abu Dhabi's sovereign ratings under Fitch's parent and subsidiary rating linkage methodology. Fitch considers Ipic to be a strategic asset to the government in its role as an investment vehicle for the state in the domestic and foreign hydrocarbon and petrochemical sectors. Any change to Abu Dhabi's sovereign ratings is highly likely to result in a similar change to Ipic's ratings.

Separate negative rating action could occur if Ipic fails to maintain a ratio of total portfolio value to total net borrowings of more than 1.5x at the Ipic parent company level. Fitch estimates this coverage ratio was approximately 1.8x as of H112 and views the ratio as being low versus IG investment holding companies in general. Fitch anticipates that this ratio could improve to more than 2x if Ipic repays part of its short-term outstanding debt.