MANAMA: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) said yesterday it was on track to borrow $6 billion this year for an industrial complex despite credit market turmoil that forced it to cut a planned bond in half last month.
Sabic, the world's largest chemical maker by market value, aims to raise mainly Islamic loans for the $10bn complex it is building with affiliate Kayan Petrochemical, chief financial officer Mutlaq Al Morished said.
Banks have already underwritten the loans and will start syndication in the next few months, Morished, who is also Kayan's chief executive, said.
Sabic was not likely to sell any bonds that comply with Islam's ban on interest to raise the money, he said.
"Raising $6bn was the plan from day one. We haven't changed anything. The deal is already underwritten ... but it has to be syndicated at the end of the third or fourth quarter," Morished said.
Last month Sabic cut a bond sale by almost half to $1.5bn on concerns that global credit market fears sparked by the US subprime mortgage problems had blunted investor appetites.
The bond sale was part of plans to raise about $8bn to fund Sabic's purchase of the plastics unit of General Electric.
Sabic raised the rest of the cash in bank loans.
HSBC, BNP Paribas, ABN-Amro, Bahrain's Arab Banking Corporation and Saudi' Arabia's Samba Financial Group are arranging the Kayan debt, the banker said