Saudi wealth fund may close its biggest-ever loan deal this week

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is set to close a deal for its biggest loan ever as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Public Investment Fund is raising about $15bn from a group of international banks to finance new investments, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

The final bank group participating in the facility is still being determined, and the size of the loan as well as the timing may change, they said.

The PIF declined to comment. The wealth fund has more than doubled the size of the loan from an initial plan to raise up to $7bn, Bloomberg reported last month.

The $400bn sovereign investor fund is tapping banks for its third loan so far, after borrowing $11bn in its debut debt raising, and another $10bn bridge facility in 2019 that it paid off last year.

The fund has also received cash injections in the form of the $30bn proceeds from the sale of shares in Saudi Aramco and a $40bn transfer from the kingdom’s foreign reserves last year as it looked to finance an asset-buying spree during a slump in equity markets caused by the coronavirus.