Saudi Aramco adds Goldman Sachs as Bond Bookrunner

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Saudi Aramco has added Goldman Sachs as a bookrunner for a planned bond which will help finance its purchase of a stake in Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The U.S. investment bank flew out a team of senior executives including partner Dina Powell, a veteran of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, to pitch for the deal, the sources said.

Saudi Aramco did not respond to queries for immediate comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

The state oil giant had already picked a group of banks including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, HSBC and Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank to help with the financing, Reuters reported on Feb. 14. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were appointed joint global coordinators and, together with the other banks, joint bookrunners.

Aramco, the world’s top oil producer, plans to issue its first international bonds, likely worth about $10 billion, in the second quarter of 2019, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said last month.

Sources previously told Reuters it could borrow as much as $50 billion from international investors to fund the purchase of all, or nearly all, of the 70 percent stake in SABIC held by the Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s top sovereign wealth fund.

Goldman Sachs has won a slew of mandates in the kingdom recently, including one to advise Riyad bank on merger talks with National Commercial Bank.

It also advised Abu Dhabi's state oil firm ADNOC on the sale of a stake in its refining unit.


By Hadeel Al Sayegh and Saeed Azhar

Categories: Contracts Legal Finance Mergers & Acquisitions

Related Stories

Pakistan’s OGDC to Start Production at ADNOC’s Offshore Block by 2027

Op-Ed: Kazakhstan’s National O&G Firm Positioning Itself as Global Energy Player

Woodside to Shed Some Trinidad and Tobago Assets for $206M

CNOOC Sees 11% Profit Growth in 2024 Driven by Record Oil Production

Keel Laying for Wind Flyer Trimaran Crew Boat

Sapura Energy Nets $720M from Multiple Drilling Services Contracts

Shell Predicts 60% Rise in LNG Demand by 2040 with Asia Leading the Way

Eco Wave Finds Partner for Wave Energy Project in India

Vestas Lands First 15MW Offshore Wind Turbine Order in Asia Pacific

The Five Trends Driving Offshore Oil & Gas in 2025

Current News

Chuditch Gas Field Up for Summer Drilling Ops as Sunda Reshapes Ownership Structure

EnQuest Bags Two Production Sharing Contracts off Indonesia

Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action Drillship En Route to Petrobras’ Roncador Field

China's ENN, Zhenhua Oil Ink LNG Supply Deals with ADNOC

MODEC Wins ExxonMobil Guyana’s Hammerhead FPSO Contract

India Stretches Bids Deadline for 13 Offshore Deep-Sea Mineral Blocks

Indonesia Awards Oil and Gas Blocks to Boost Reserves

Sapura Energy Nets $22.6M in Offshore Support Vessel Contracts

CNOOC Puts Into Production New Oil Field in South China Sea

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com