Saudi wealth fund to tap $7b loan for new investments
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund plans to raise as much as $7 billion in loans as it seeks cash for new investments. The Public Investment Fund has approached international banks to participate in the multi-currency revolving facility of between $5 billion and $7 billion.
The PIF aims to complete the fund raising early next year and use the cash for opportunistic investments. The final size of the loan will depend on the response from banks.
The deal would be the third time PIF has tapped international banks for funding. Its debut loan raised $11 billion in 2018, while it repaid a $10 billion bridge loan in August, two months ahead of schedule.
Domestic pivot
The fund has shifted its focus from being mostly a domestic holding company to an international investment vehicle. The PIF's funding strategy includes cash or asset transfers from the government, borrowing, and retained earnings from its investments.
It invested about $8 billion in US equities in March, taking advantage of the slump in global markets. The PIF then sold most of them off a few months later as the markets rebounded.