Kuwait’s KIPCO extends debt maturities with $331m bond

Kuwait Projects Co (KIPCO), the Gulf state’s largest listed investment company, has completed a KWD100 ($331m) seven-year bond issue, it said on Thursday

Corporate bonds in Kuwait are typically shorter-dated issues, but KIPCO said its seven-year bond will leave it without any debt repayments until the middle of 2019.

“By issuing these dinar bonds, we have reduced our debt maturity concentration by converting from short-term into longer-term (debt),” said Faisal al-Ayyar, KIPCO’s vice chairman.

“The funds raised by the bonds will be used to repay existing obligations, stagger our maturities and diversify our investor base.”

Gulf Bank, KAMCO Investment Company and NBK Capital were the joint lead arrangers on the issue, which was 1.45 times oversubscribed, KIPCO said.

The bonds were issued in fixed and floating-rate tranches, with the fixed bond paying 5.25 per cent annually and the floating bond paying a coupon of 2.25 per cent annually over the Kuwaiti central bank discount rate, KIPCO said.

KIPCO has assets of $32bn, including ownership interests in more than 60 companies across 24 countries in financial services, media, real estate, manufacturing and other sectors.