Aramco Oil Pipelines investors miss funding goal with $2.5bn bond sale: Reuters

Aramco Oil Pipelines investors miss funding goal with $2.5bn bond sale: Reuters

DUBAI: A group of institutional investors that last year took a stake in Saudi Aramco's oil pipelines network sold $2.5 billion in dual-tranche amortising bonds on Thursday, significantly below the amount sought, a bank document showed, according to Reuters. Amid turbulent debt markets, final spreads were unchanged from initial guidance, with the deal drawing around $5 billion in orders, according to the document. A separate bank document had shown that the investors, via EIG Pearl Holdings, were seeking to raise $3.5-4.4 billion. “Investment grade deals are getting difficult in light of market conditions,” a banker away from the deal said. “Even the Coca Cola bond deal struggled,” he added, referring to Coca-Cola Icecek, the soft drink's Turkish bottler, which sold $500 million in sustainability-linked bonds on Thursday, according to fixed income news service IFR. Global debt markets have been rattled by the US Federal Reserve's indications of a faster run of interest rate hikes and stimulus withdrawal, with the resulting rise in borrowing costs leaving investors more reluctant to lend to companies until the picture is clearer. EIG Pearl Holdings sold $1.25 billion in a tranche maturing in 14-1/2 to 15 years at 185 basis points over US Treasuries and