SINGAPORE - A unit of Temasek Holdings plans to issue a batch of long-dated United States dollar bonds.

Temasek Financial (I), a wholly owned Temasek subsidiary, will launch a three-tranche offering of 10-year, 30.5-year and 50-year bonds as part of its US$25 billion (S$34 billion) guaranteed global medium-term note programme.

A statement on Tuesday (Sept 29) said proceeds from the issuance will be used by Temasek and its investment holding companies to fund their businesses.

The bonds will be listed on the official board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading, it said.

Reuters reported that Barclays, Citigroup, DBS Bank, HSBC and Morgan Stanley are the joint bookrunners for the bonds sale.

Temasek last entered the international debt market in November 2019, when it sold 12- and 30-year guaranteed euro notes.

Its website notes that it had $12.6 billion of Temasek bonds and $1.2 billion Temasek euro-commercial paper outstanding as at the end of March 2020.

That is about 5 per cent of Temasek's net investment portfolio of $306 billion, the data showed.

The company's dividend income of $11.9 billion provides 30 times coverage for the interest expense on its debt.

Moody's Investors Service said in a separate statement yesterday that it has assigned "Aaa" ratings - its highest - to the proposed US dollar-denominated Temasek bonds.

"Temasek's Aaa rating reflects its strong fundamental credit quality as an investment company, supported by steady and recurring dividend income, as well as its large and high-quality investment portfolio," said Ms Jacintha Poh, vice-president and senior credit officer at Moody's.

The credit rating firm expects Temasek to maintain a conservative financial profile, with the net debt to market value of its portfolio assets - excluding cash - staying below 5 per cent, said Ms Poh, who is also Moody's lead analyst for Temasek.

Temasek said it has been assigned an overall corporate credit rating of Aaa by Moody's and AAA by S&P Global Ratings.