KUALA LUMPUR (March 27): Petroliam Nasional Bhd, also known as Petronas, said on Thursday that it has issued a US$5 billion (RM22 billion) senior multi-tranche bond and proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes.

The issuance represents Petronas’ return to the international US dollar bond market since its US$3 billion bond offering in April 2021, the company said in a statement. At its peak, the bond attracted orders exceeding US$17 billion, representing 3.4 times oversubscription, the company noted.

The bond, upsized from the initial US$3 billion, is also the largest issuance from the oil and gas sector out of Asia in five years, and is the biggest international bond market transaction out of Asia since 2021.

The bonds were distributed to international investors and across investor category, including asset managers, banks, insurers, pension funds, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds, Petronas said.

Overwhelming investor interest allowed Petronas to tighten the bonds’ pricing by 30-to-35 basis points (bps) from its initial pricing guidance.

The bonds comprise 5.75-year US$1.6 billion notes paying returns of 4.95%, 10-year US$1.8 billion notes paying 5.34%, and 30-year US$1.6 billion notes with coupon of 5.848%.

The 5.75-year notes were priced at 90bps above the five-year US treasury yield, while the 10-year paper was priced at 100bps over comparable US Treasury yield, and the 30-year issue was sold to investors at 115bps over 30-year US Treasury yield.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley acted as joint global coordinators, along with HSBC, Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) and MUFG, who acted as joint bookrunners for the drawdown offering.

JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Maybank and MUFG acted as joint arrangers and dealers for the global medium-term note update.

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