Tenaga Nasional Berhad is planning to raise RM 10 billion ($2.7 billion) in an Islamic bond issue to develop a power plant project it is planning to take over from the debt-laden state fund 1MDB. The bond by Malaysia’s national utility would be the largest sukuk globally this year, a major boost for the sukuk market after issuance fell in the first quarter to its lowest point in four years. The planned purchase of 1MDB’s 70 per cent stake in 3B, a greenfield 2,000 MW coal-fired plant, will take the pressure off 1MDB to find the funds to develop the project and help it focus on paring down a debt of more than $11 billion.
