KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 (Reuters) - State-owned strategic development firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its Abu Dhabi partner Aabar Investments PJSC (Aabar) have raised $3 billion through private placements to invest in projects such as energy and strategic real estate.
Raised through a 50:50 joint venture company called Abu Dhabi Malaysia Investment Company, the money will be used to fund the operations of 18 billion ringgit ($5.92 billion) worth of economic projects, 1MDB said in a statement.
"This success underlines investor appetite and confidence in the Malaysia-Abu Dhabi partnership as well as in Malaysia as a sustainable growth centre enjoying peace, stability and good governance," 1MDB Chief Executive Officer Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman said in a statement.
1MDB's bonds have received an A- rating from Standard & Poor's (S&P), which also assigned an "axAAA" Asean regional scale rating.
1MDB's Tun Razak Exchange, a planned 26 billion ringgit financial hub in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, could be Abu Dhabi Malaysia Investment's first investment, 1MDB said. ($1 = 3.0415 Malaysian ringgit)
(Reporting By Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Stephen Coates)
((yantoultra.ngui@thomsonreuters.com)(+60323338036)(Reuters Messaging: yantoultra.ngui.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MALAYSIA 1MDB/AABAR
