Mubadala denies report that 1MDB has US$6.9b exposure

KUALA LUMPUR: Abu Dhabi’s state owned Mubadala Investment Company has denied that six bonds totalling US$6.9 billion ($9.5 billion) that it is assuming from its subsidiary International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) are connected to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Mubadala Investment said this in response to a query from The Edge after the editor of Singapore's The Straits Times (ST) Warren Fernandez issued a statement to say that the newspaper stood by the reporting of its correspondent Leslie Lopez that 1MDB’s debt obligations could be as high as US$6.9 billion and that Malaysia was not aware of it.

Lopez’s report was based on documents filed to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Oct 1 by IPIC to seek the consent of IPIC’s bondholders to agree to a debt transfer to Mubadala Investment and Mubadala Development Company (MDC) in a merger that would see MDC become the issuer of the bonds while Mubadala Investment becomes the guarantor.