Banking & Finance Arab Energy Fund raises $650m in bonds By Eva Levesque February 28, 2025, 12:06 PM Alamy The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh: financial institutions took the lion’s share of allocations of AEF's new bond issue Issue oversubscribed 1.4 times 40% of investors from outside Mena Priced at 4.9% yield The Arab Energy Fund, formerly known as Apicorp, has raised $650 million in a five-year bond issue that was oversubscribed 1.4 times. AEF is a multilateral lender focused on the Mena energy sector, with headquarters in Riyadh. It initially planned to raise $500 million but increased the issue size after demand surged, attracting more than $935 million in orders, AEF said. The AEF bond, rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA+ by Fitch, was priced at a yield of 4.9 percent, settling at 80 basis points over the swap rate. Around 40 percent of investors came from outside the Mena region, including Asia, Europe and offshore US accounts, AEF said. Qatar’s $3bn bond issue oversubscribed four times Saudi Arabia’s debt rule changes could increase sales PIF’s $4bn bond sale is four-times oversubscribed Financial institutions took the lion’s share of allocations: banks, treasuries and private banks received 52 percent, while central banks and sovereign institutions took 38 percent. The remainder was split among asset managers, hedge funds and other institutional investors. In its five-year strategy, the fund announced a $1 billion commitment to decarbonisation as part of its push towards energy transition. Since it was founded in the 1970s with a capital of $320 million, AEF’s assets have grown to more than $10 billion, while it has a $5.3 billion loan portfolio. In January a consortium led by AEF acquired a 100 percent stake in Metito Utilities, a Dubai-based water and wastewater project developer. For the bond issuance, AEF was advised by BSF Capital, Doha Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq, Nomura and Standard Chartered, which acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners.
