Investors led by BlackRock in Saudi Aramco’s gas pipelines network are preparing to issue USD 3 billion in two-tranche amortizing bonds to refinance a loan used to acquire a stake in the holding company in 2021, according to a bank document detailing the final terms released on Wednesday.
These investors had previously acquired a 49 per cent interest in Aramco Gas Pipelines Co through a per cent 15.5 billion lease-and-leaseback transaction. The funds raised from the bonds will be directed towards refinancing the per cent 13.4 billion bridge loan that financed this acquisition.
Greensaif Pipelines Bidco, which is indirectly controlled by BlackRock and Hassana Investment Co, will issue bonds in two tranches. The first tranche, totaling USD 1.4 billion, will mature in February 2036 and is priced at 170 basis points (bps) over current 10-year U.S. Treasuries. The second tranche, amounting to USD 1.6 billion, will mature in August 2042 and is priced at 195 bps over the same benchmark. According to the document, the tranche maturing in 2036 has a weighted average life of 10.2 years, while the bonds maturing in 2042 have a weighted average life of 14.7 years. Demand for these bonds exceeded USD 9.2 billion.
The spreads on these bonds were adjusted from the initial guidance of approximately 205 and 225 basis points over U.S. Treasuries for the 2036 and 2042 tranches, respectively, as reported earlier by fixed income news service IFR.
In February of the previous year, Greensaif had raised USD 4.5 billion through the sale of amortising bonds. BlackRock and its affiliates hold a 77.2 per cent ownership stake in Greensaif, with the remaining shares owned by Hassana, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s General Organization of Social Insurance.
In a similar lease-and-leaseback transaction in 2021, Aramco had sold a 49 per cent stake in its oil pipelines network to a consortium led by U.S.-based EIG Global Energy Partners for USD 12.4 billion.