* GIB arrangers include JPM, StanChart, NBAD, Barclays,
SocGen
* Plans to issue at least $500 mln from bond
* Roadshows kick off Nov 28 in UAE, end Dec 3
(Adds roadshow details, background)
DUBAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Gulf International Bank
(GIB), majority owned by the Saudi Arabian government, has
picked six banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a
potential benchmark-sized, dollar-denominated bond, lead
arrangers said on Tuesday.
Roadshows kick off on Nov. 28 in the United Arab Emirates,
before meetings in Singapore and Hong Kong, and conclude on Dec.
3 in London.
Any bond following investor meetings will be issued under
the bank’s recently-updated $4 billion euro medium term notes
programme, the arrangers said. Proceeds from any potential debt
issue would be used for general corporate purposes.
Benchmark-sized deals are typically at least $500 million in
size.
Bahrain-based GIB has picked itself, as well as JP Morgan
Chase Inc, National Bank of Abu Dhabi,
Barclays Plc, Standard Chartered Plc and
Societe Generale, to arrange the deal.
Reuters reported the mandated banks earlier this month.
Earlier this year, GIB conducted investor meetings in
Malaysia for a possible Islamic bond, or sukuk, under a 3.5
billion ringgit programme but no issue has yet materialised.
Despite its name and its base in Bahrain, GIB is 97.2
percent owned by the Saudi government, a level of risk
international investors are likely to be more comfortable with.
Other shareholders are Gulf sovereign wealth funds including
Kuwait Investment Authority and Qatar Holding.
(Reporting by Rachna Uppal; Editing by David French)
