IslamicFinance.de

Malaysia's Tenaga Nasional Bhd is seeking to raise as much as 10 billion ringgit ($2.7 billion) in an Islamic bond issue to develop a power plant project it is planning to take over from debt-laden state fund 1MDB. The planned purchase of 1MDB's 70 percent stake in 3B, a greenfield 2,000 MW coal-fired plant project, will take the pressure off 1MDB to find the funds to develop the project and help it focus on paring down debt of more than $11 billion - a burden that has weighed on Malaysia's currency and its credit rating. It also fits well with Tenaga's own energy supply needs, although some analysts are worried that the company may end up overpaying if the government pushes for 1MDB to gain the best deal it can.