Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘AA’ long-term debt rating to two proposed senior unsecured Eurobonds and one proposed US dollar bond to be issued by Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company GMTN Ltd. (IPIC GMTN)
IPIC GMTN is a special-purpose entity that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of 100% state-owned Abu Dhabi-based IPIC (AA/Stable/A-1+). The entity was established for the issuance of notes under its guaranteed global medium-term note program. The payment of amounts due under this program is unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by IPIC.
“The ratings on IPIC, which is fully owned and controlled by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (AA/Stable/A-1+), reflect our assessment of IPIC under our criteria for government-related entities. The Abu Dhabi government has declared its “full and unconditional” support for IPIC. Therefore, we equalize the ratings on IPIC with those on Abu Dhabi because we believe that there is an “almost certain” likelihood that the Abu Dhabi government would provide timely and sufficient extraordinary support to IPIC in the event of financial distress. Notably, this assessment on IPIC remains in place following recent discussions of a review of Abu Dhabi’s debt-guarantee policy,” S&P in a statement said.
IPIC’s public-policy role is to implement the government’s long-term development strategy as outlined in its Economic Vision 2030. The company manages investments to develop the hydrocarbon and petrochemical industries, as well as to implement strategic national projects with a view to securing demand for Abu Dhabi’s oil. This, coupled with IPIC’s operational proximity to the Abu Dhabi government and repeated governmental capital increases, leads us to conclude that the government would be willing to provide substantial ongoing support to IPIC’s operations and to intervene in a timely manner if the company were to require extraordinary financial support.