Sabic Capital, affiliated to petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), plans a benchmark dollar bond issue before the end of June, a senior executive told Reuters on Monday. Ratings agency Moody's assigned the bond an A+ rating on Monday and said it understood it would be used to refinance or repay debt at Sabic Innovative Plastics Holding, the renamed GE Plastics. Sabic Innovative Plastics raised $1.5 billion from a bond issue in August 2007. “The benchmark bond is for general corporate purposes. The roadshow starts on May 20 in London and if we like the prices we will go ahead with it,” SABIC's Chief Financial Officer Mutlaq Al-Morished said. The bond will be registered in London. SABIC capital was established in 2008 to look after the financing and tax operations of SABIC's investments in Europe and the United States after the acquisition of DSM Petrochemicals and GE Plastics. The bond roadshow will stop in Munich, Frankfurt, Geneva and Zurich on May 21, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on May 23, Singapore on May 24 and Hong Kong on May 25, Morished said. IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters, reported that HSBC, JP Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland had been mandated for the bond issue. Between July 2006 and May 2008, SABIC raised 16 billion riyals ($4.27 billion) from three Islamic bond issues. I It raised SR2 billion in December 2009 from a private bond placement. Saudi firms are leading a gradual recovery in regional debt markets after Dubai's government in March unveiled a $9.5 billion support plan for conglomerate Dubai World, which rattled markets in November with news it would ask for a standstill on some of its debt.
