AFP - Monday, October
19
SINGAPORE (AFP) - –
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.