Funding the second phase of the Red Sea Development Company is being considered through an initial public offering (IPO), asset sales, or tap debt markets, announced CEO John Pagano.
Pagano indicated that the Amaala tourism project may raise up to SR10 billion next year, and he pointed out that the Red Sea project recently closed SR14 billion loans from domestic banks, and proceeds will be used to fund the first phase scheduled for completion by the end of 2023.
The Red Sea project recently announced the completion of its fixed-term loan and credit facility with four Saudi banks that included the Saudi Fransi Bank, Riyad Bank, SABB Bank, and al-Ahli Bank.
Amaala, on the northwestern coast of Saudi Arabia, won’t tap markets until next year, Pagano told Bloomberg, adding that the numbers haven’t yet been finalized, with the amount of debt likely to be in the “range” of SR5-10 billion. The company has awarded more than SR3 billion in contracts.
Meanwhile, recent data revealed a decline in Saudi Arabia's possession of US Treasury bonds for the fourth month in a row, recording the lowest level of ownership in seven months.
Saudi Arabia reduced its holdings of US Treasury bonds to $130.2 billion by the end of March, the lowest level since August 2020.
The recent decline reached 17.7 percent compared to the same month last year, while comparisons indicate a decrease in the level of recent holdings by 4.1 percent during the first quarter of 2021, down $5.6 billion from the fourth quarter of 2020.
With the current level of Sukuk ownership in the US Treasury, Saudi Arabia ranks 14th on the list of investors. Japan tops the list with $1240.3 billion, followed by China with investments of $1100.4 billion, and the UK with $443.2 billion.
In addition, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) increased its US stock holdings to $15.4 billion in the first quarter from nearly $12.8 billion at the end of 2020.
Reuters reported that PIF bought 2.9 million class A shares in SoftBank Group Corp-backed Coupang Inc, equivalent to $141 million, and dissolved its share stake in Suncor Energy, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
