Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state-owned company established to diversify the emirate’s economy, plans to become a frequent borrower in the international capital markets, says a senior official.
The government fund, whose investments include Ferrari and Carlyle Group, wants to build a yield curve by issuing bonds across a range of tenors and to raise money in different currencies, Matthew Hurn, executive director of the group’s treasury department, told Euromoney.
"We plan to be a frequent issuer but we will do it through a coordinated approach," says Hurn. One consideration will be to match Mubadala’s liabilities with its assets. Another will be to develop a framework to attract institutional investors, including strong bids from local pension funds and insurance companies.
Better balance
Frequent borrowers from the Middle East are rare because so many of the region’s sovereigns and quasi-sovereigns are traditionally cash rich or have easy access to finance from banks. In that sense Mubadala is no different. It has credit lines with more than 70 banks, with 15 providing a core relationship. But Hurn is keen for the company to have a better balance in its funding strategy and to develop a more efficient capital structure.