Saudi Aramco’s impending debut international bond has already drawn tens of billions of dollars of demand from investors, who are putting aside concerns over close linkages with a repressive state government to back the world’s most profitable company.
Reflecting the scale of appetite for the deal, bankers are pushing for the multibillion-dollar bond to come at a cheaper borrowing cost for the oil company than for Saudi Arabian government bonds, according to people familiar with the debt sale — a highly unusual quirk.
Early indicative interest from investors has already swelled to nearly $30bn for an expected total issuance of around $10bn across several maturities, said the people, although some investors expect the deal will increase in size.