Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 20 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will hold a eurobond roadshow next year, SOCAR Economic Affairs Vice President Suleyman Gasimov told Trend today.
"The company's legal adviser has already been tasked with preparing a contract and a legal avenue for investors," he said. "This takes a long time. Afterward, we will make presentations on varipus markets."
The debut bond placement is expected to reach $500 million, which will be available in five tranches of $100 million each over a five-year period.
"The roadshow will be held in 2011 when the company is ready," Gasimov said. "Today, the U.S. market is more interesting for SOCAR. The company would also like to place eurobonds in the European market, as well as the Asian market, particularly in Singapore, as SOCAR Trading has a representative office there and we are expanding our activities in the country."
The SOCAR bonds will cover five years. The company's consultant on the bonds issue, Citibank, has offered to place the bonds in the United States due to the "tremendous domestic interest," Gasimov said.
SOCAR planned to release the bonds in 2009, as the measure was necessary to obtain a rating and carry out a two-year international audit. SOCAR held the first international audit in 2007 and the second in 2008. Furthermore, Miller and Land evaluated the hydrocarbon reserves of SOCAR's fields. SOCAR approved the report.
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