GIC raises 600m ringgit through bond sale

Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) has raised Malaysian Ringgit 600 million ($197 million) through a 5-year fixed rate bond issue in Malaysia. 

The program was rated AAA by Rating Agency Malaysia, the premier rating agency of the country.

Hisham A. Al Razzuqi, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The success of this issue is commendable, especially in light of the challenging environment, and is testimony to the confidence investors have placed on GIC. The sustained improvement in profitability and financial strength over the past two years reaffirms the corporation’s success in overcoming challenging operating environments, and is a reflection of its inherent resilience”.

Liability management is a vital component of GIC’s business strategy and prudent targets are set, across the term structure, with the objective of optimizing the risk return profile of our funding.  This five year issue helps further diversify the corporation’s funding source both, in terms of geography and tenor. 

The Royal Bank of Scotland Berhad was the lead manager on the issue, strongly supported by Maybank Investment Bank Berhad, who were the co-lead.  GIC has had a long and strong relationship with Malaysian investors, and this issue follows a previous MYR 1 billion issue in 2008.

GIC is a leading regional financial institution that was established under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council and is equally owned by the six member states of the Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.