Pentavirate Plans $500 Million Sukuk

18/09/2019

Global Investment Firm Announces 6th Islamic Bond in U.S. History. Pentavirate, a Seattle-based global investment company, has hired international law firm K&L Gates to advise on the issuance of a 10-year U.S.-dollar denominated Reg S Sukuk, of $500 million, backed by U.S. commercial real estate. The Sukuk would be only the 6th issuance in U.S. history. Chad Gleason, Pentavirate's Managing Director, announced the transaction.

Pentavirate's debut offering is part of an overall $2.5 billion multi-tranche Wakalah Sukuk program. The 1st tranche will target acquisitions of North America's highest-yield commercial real estate, including self-storage, parking assets, and data centers.

"Our objective is to provide emerging-market investors with exposure to stable, Shariah-compliant assets in the developed markets," said Gleason. "Sukuk statistics show that 90% of issuers and 80% of their investors are in the Middle East and South East Asia; thus far, there has been a lack of developed market issuances that allow investors with Shariah mandates to diversify their portfolios toward fixed-income assets in high-growth Western economies. The few times these issuances have occurred, there was intense demand, with oversubscription being the norm."

Our team has a successful track record in acquiring cash-flowing properties from owner-operators and then upgrading them to institutional-level performance for later disposition to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) and fund managers," said Thom Polson, Director of Global Investments, and a noted Islamic finance practitioner. "The 1st tranche of our new tradable Wakalah Sukuk will have a 10- year term, an offering size that can adapt based on demand, and an above-market rate coupon."

The 1st tranche is expected to be issued by the end of 2019. The selection of a lead arranger and the subsequent investment road show are scheduled to commence this October.

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