08 April 2019 - 16:51A Saudi Aramco logo in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Picture: CHRISTOPHER PIKE/BLOOMBERG
State-owned Saudi Aramco met investors last week in a global bond roadshow ahead of the issue. The bond is expected to attract demand from both emerging markets and investment-grade buyers as Aramco's status as the world's largest oil company would put its bonds in the same league as debt issued by independent international oil majors like Exxon and Shell.
Sergey Dergachev, a manager of EM corporate debt at Germany-based Union Investment, said he expected the bond to have four tranches of three, five, 10 and 30 years and to range between $10bn and $15bn in size. Lured by Aramco's vast profits — which were nearly three times those of Apple in 2018 — a large number of investors are willing to buy the bonds even if they offer less than Saudi government debt, sources familiar with the matter said.
Al-Falih said in addition to Sabic, there will be other assets,"non-strategic assets", that PIF may exit.