Arabian Industrial Fibres Co (Ibn Rushd), an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corp, said it would issue about 5 billion riyals ($1.33 billion) worth of shares to pay off debts to Sabic and a state fund.

Ibn Rushd said in a statement on the Saudi bourse Web site that a shareholders meeting approved on Saturday the debt conversion deal which would raise its capital to 8.51 billion riyals from 3.55 billion riyals.

Sabic's stake in Ibn Rushd after the capital increase would be 45.19 percent, while the state-owned Public Investment Fund would hold 33.51 percent, with the rest held by a dozen other firms.

The statement did not say how much was owed to Sabic and the Public Investment Fund. In 2000, Ibn Rushd signed a deal with creditors to reschedule $850 million in debts, extending repayment to 2009. - Reuters