RIYADH — The Public Investment Fund (PIF) Wednesday announced it has signed a $10 billion syndicated bridge loan.

The proceeds of this syndicated bridge loan will be used for general corporate purposes and will enable PIF to accelerate the implementation of its investment program.

TThe syndicated bridge loan will be repaid following completion of the agreed sale of PIF’s stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to Saudi Aramco.

As outlined in the PIF Program 2018-2020, launched in October 2017, PIF’s four sources of funding are capital injections by the government, asset transfers from the government, retained investment returns, and PIF loans and debt instruments independently issued by PIF.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of PIF, commented: “The agreed sale of PIF’s stake in SABIC is anticipated to realize a significant level of capital to be redeployed according to PIF’s mandate, however, the regulatory requirements ahead of completion mean there is likely to be a period of delay before PIF is able to redeploy that capital.

“This bridge loan will enable us to accelerate the implementation of our ambitious investment program while ensuring that we maintain a conservative level of leverage.”

The syndicated bridge loan has been agreed with a group of 10 international banks, including: Bank of America Corporation, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Agricole CIB, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

These banks are all part of PIF’s core banking group, created in September 2018 through the signing of a $11 billion international syndicated loan facility. — SG