GIB Saudi Arabia Secures $500M AT1 Bond to Boost Capital, Align with Vision 2030

Editorial Team

Last updated 7-11-2025

3 min

GIB Saudi Arabia issued a USD 500 million AT1 bond, supporting its expansion under Vision 2030.

The bond was oversubscribed, attracting USD 1,3 billion in investor interest globally.

CEO Khaled Abbas emphasised the bond's role in bolstering the bank’s balance sheet and growth.

AT1 bonds offer high returns but come with increased risk if financial conditions worsen.

Listing on the London Stock Exchange enhances GIB Saudi Arabia's credibility and global visibility.

Gulf International Bank – Saudi Arabia (GIB Saudi Arabia) seems to be on quite a roll. The bank has just wrapped up its pricing of a hefty USD 500 million Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bond as part of its USD 1.5 billion AT1 Capital Note Programme. The move, as I see it, is all about shoring up the bank’s capital base and giving it that extra muscle to push ahead with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals — the country’s grand roadmap for economic diversification and modernisation.

What’s striking is how confidently GIB Saudi Arabia has tapped international markets. The bond issue pulled in investor orders worth a solid USD 1.3 billion — that’s 2.6 times more than the offer itself. Not too shabby, really. It shows the appetite global investors still have for well-run Gulf banks. The final yield came in at 6.625%, which signals that, despite the tough global financing climate, investors have faith in both the bank’s fundamentals and Saudi Arabia’s broader financial stability.

Khaled Abbas, the bank’s CEO, was quoted saying the successful issue confirms confidence in GIB Saudi Arabia’s disciplined strategy and commitment to growth. He reckons this will not only boost the bank’s balance sheet but also help support the Kingdom’s financial sector development under Vision 2030. And honestly, that sounds spot on — Vision 2030 has been pushing local institutions to step up their game internationally, and this deal is a textbook example of that spirit.

From where I’m sitting — and having watched so many MENA startups and banks chase global capital — it’s encourging to see Saudi institutions diversifying their funding horizons instead of relying purely on domestic liquidity. It’s a bit of a faff at times dealing with cross-border investor sentiment, especially when markets are jittery, but pulling off an oversubscribed issue like this one definitely earns a nod.

On the flip side, AT1 bonds can be tricky. They’re complex hybrid instruments that sit somewhere between debt and equity. They give investors higher returns in exchange for taking on a pinch more risk, especially since they can be written down if things go south. Still, for GIB Saudi Arabia, listing them on the London Stock Exchange adds a layer of credibility and visibility to global stakeholders.

So yes, this might just sound like another bond issuance headline, but taken in context, it reflects a deliberate, forward-looking stride by the Kingdom’s financial players. And believe it or not, that’s precisely the kind of tenacity we at Arageek love to see driving the region’s economic momentum — one bold deal at a time.

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