Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is set to launch an oil pipeline network stake sale as soon as February in a deal that could raise up to $7 billion, reported Reuters, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter.
For the deal, it has hired HSBC alongside JPMorgan and Centerview Partners as advisers, the sources said.
HSBC is also arranging 'staple financing' which the buyers can use to back their purchase, four sources said, while advisers have begun sounding out investors, three sources said.
Gulf governments are stepping up infrastructure deals with foreign investors and are now offering them access to assets once off limits - from pipelines to power plants - to bring in pension funds, private equity firms and infrastructure specialists.
Saudi oil giant Aramco too is preparing to sell some gas-fired power plants in the coming weeks in a deal expected to raise around $4 billion, said the Reuters report.
The shift comes as oil prices, down more than 25% in two years, sit below levels needed to fund the Gulf’s diversification plans, it added.
