State-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings said Monday it was planning a new 10-year bond offer as part of a capital-raising programme worth five billion US dollars. The bonds to be issued by Temasek Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary, are "fully and unconditionally guaranteed" by its parent company, Temasek said in a statement.
"The issuer intends to provide the net proceeds from the offering to Temasek and its subsidiary companies to fund their ordinary course of business," the statement said. Temasek did not provide details on the size of the offer but Dow Jones Newswires quoted an unnamed source familiar with the plans as saying it is likely to be one billion US dollars.
It will be the second such offer in Temasek's 35-year history. It first raised 1.75 billion dollars from a 10-year inaugural bond issue in September 2005.
Temasek Holdings, among the largest sovereign wealth funds globally, had an investment portfolio worth 130 billion Singapore dollars (93 billion US) as of March 2009.
It announced in September that its net profit sank 67 percent to 6.0 billion Singapore dollars in the year to March as the global crisis took a toll on its investments.
Global risk evaluator Standard & Poor's assigned its "AAA" ratings on the new bond issue by Temasek, saying the top grading "reflects its very strong liquidity position, highly diversified and liquid investments." "In addition, most of its major investments have strong business risk profiles, with steady and sustainable cash flows," it said.
Moody's Investors Service also assigned its top "Aaa" to the offering. "The Aaa rating reflects Temasek's strong financial profile at the holding company level," said Moody's.
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