Tenure of Reg S bond to be 7 to 10 years
ABU DHABI/October 12: The National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) is launching a series of fixed income investor calls on Monday (October 12) as a precursor of a bond issue.
In a filing to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Monday, Tabreed said the investor call will be followed by “an issuance of a Regulation S senior unsecured US dollar denominated bond with a tenor of between 7 and 10 years, subject to prevailing market conditions.”
The company said the bond issuance will be underpinned by ratings issued by both Moody’s and Fitch which rated Tabreed at Baa3 and BBB respectively.
“Both ratings qualify Tabreed as ‘investment grade’. Tabreed’s current intention is that the proceeds of the issuance of the bond will be used to fund acquisitions and/or for general corporate purposes,” the company said in filiing.
About a month ago, Tabreed had announced that it was planning a potential issuance of up to $1 billion in bonds or sukuk with a tenor of up to 30 years.
The company’s board last month had authorised such an issuance, in one or more tranches, over the next 12 months and said the timing would depend on the requirement of funds among other factors.
The region’s leading district cooling company had also said the bonds would be offered to qualified investors but not be for public subscription in the UAE and hence not to be listed on any UAE financial markets.
The company had earlier announced its plans to expand to other markets. In April, Tabreed bought an 80 per cent stake in Emaar Properties’ Downtown Dubai district cooling business for AED2.48 billion ($675.23 million).
