Saudi Electric invites banks for potential dollar-bond-IFR

Saudi Electricity Co has invited banks for a potential bond mandate, reported IFR Markets, a unit of Thomson Reuters, after the company said last year it could tap international debt markets in 2011.

In May, a senior executive said the company was considering its first international bond issue which would be an Islamic issue, or sukuk. The company has so far only issued domestic sukuk. A request for proposals (RFP) has been sent to a limited number of local banks and international institutions with operations in Saudi Arabia, and replies are due by the end of February, IFR said.

SEC plans to invest $80bn to boost capacity to at least 70,000 megawatts by 2020 from an installed capacity of 50,000 MW to meet domestic demand rising at 8 percent annually.

It is 81 percent owned by the government, while 19 percent is floated on the stock market.