Sharjah Islamic
Bank (SIB) successfully closed a USD500 million sukuk in the international
capital markets on Wednesday. The issuance received tremendous response from international
investors, attracting orders that peaked at USD1.5 billion meaning more than 3x
over subscription.
The sukuk has
maturity of 5 years and was priced at spread of 105 bps + 5 years US
Treasuries. The sukuk will bear a profit rate of 5.25% per annum with maturity
on 3rd July 2029. The bank was successfully able to tighten by 35 bps having
announced IPTs at 140 bps area due to the strong demand from the International
and the Middle East investors.
Mohamed
Abdalla, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, thanked all the investors for their vote
of confidence in the bank and investing in the sukuk. He said "This is our
ninth foray in the international capital markets, having issued a sukuk as
early as 2006. The bank remains strong under prudent management and that
reflects in the ratings and pricing of our transactions."
Ahmed Saad, the
Deputy CEO, highlighted the strengths of the UAE Banking system in general and
SIB in particular. "The Sukuk's diverse geographical distribution was a
key target of the issue. We were able to allocate diversely with Middle East
getting 80% while Asia and Europe getting 13%, 7% respectively. The interest in
middle eastern credit story in general and Sharjah Islamic Bank in particular
was very strong and heartening for us despite a volatile market background,” he
said.
The SIB was
advised by ENBD Capital, HSBC and Standard Chartered as Joint Global
Coordinators with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Bank ABC,
Dubai Islamic Bank, ENBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Mashreq, QNB
Capital and Standard Chartered Bank acting as Bookrunners.