The instrument is unusually structured: it is made up of two equal tranches, one denominated in US dollars paying a bi-annual coupon of 4 per cent; the other denominated in Kuwaiti dinars and carrying a 5 per cent coupon. The five-year bonds will be drawn down in four stages of 25 per cent every six months. Cyprus-based rating agency Capital Intelligence has assigned the issue an A- rating.

The funds raised will be used to restructure existing debt and to finance a major expansion programme at PWC, driven by a rapid increase in demand for warehouse space and inventory management services. In June, the company won a two-year contract worth an estimated $22.4 million to supply food and non-food products to the US military in Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq (MEED 6:6:03).