Saudi Arabia kicked off its 2026 borrowing season with a splash, raising $11.5 billion through a multi-tranche bond offering that drew orders exceeding $28 billion.
The offering, the kingdom’s first international debt move of the year and a first among GCC sovereigns for 2026, spanned four maturities—three, five, 10, and 30 years—highlighting strong global appetite for Saudi paper.
The short end of the curve, a three-year bond, pulled in $2.5 billion at 4.125% coupon, priced 65 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, tighter than initial guidance of +95bps. Both the five- and 10-year tranches raised $2.75 billion each, with yields of 4.455% and 5.009% respectively, while the 30-year segment led the pack, securing $3.5 billion at a 5.875% coupon and 5.948% yield.
At launch, the orderbook already topped $27.7 billion and climbed to $28.3 billion at final pricing, reflecting a 2.7x oversubscription. Demand was strongest for the longer maturities: $8.4 billion for the 30-year, $8.2 billion for the 10-year, $6.5 billion for the five-year, and $5.2 billion for the three-year tranche.
A global lineup of banks coordinated the issuance. HSBC led the three-year, Citi the five-year, Goldman Sachs the 10-year, and JP Morgan the 30-year tranche, with Bank of China, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, and Standard Chartered joining as joint bookrunners and lead managers.
The bonds, rated Aa3 by Moody’s and A+ by Fitch, will list on the London Stock Exchange and are earmarked for domestic budget needs, fueling Saudi Arabia’s ambitious giga-projects under the Vision 2030 initiative.
