Emirates Islamic completes Dh1.83b sukuk

Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) said it has successfully completed the issuance of $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) sukuk certificates, maturing in 2017 of its $1 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme. The programme is guaranteed by Emirates NBD, rated A3 by Moody's and A+ by Fitch. The certificates pay a profit rate to investors of $ 5-year mid-swaps and 350bps (4.718 per cent). Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC Bank Plc, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and Standard Chartered Bank were joint lead managers and bookrunners on the transaction. The transaction structure was a Sukuk Al Musharaka based on Sharikat Al Melk (Co-ownership), with the Certificates being a senior obligation of EIB. The investor meetings were announced on the 3rd of January with roadshows in Middle East, Asia and Europe. EIB and Emirates NBD were represented on the roadshows by senior management who presented the Group's credit story during the investor meetings and Group presentations. The roadshows were very well attended by both Islamic and conventional investors. The transaction closed within 12 hours from the release of initial pricing thoughts, with strong demand from regional and international investors. The syndicate and marketing strategies resulted in an order book that was oversubscribed three times. The order book was very well diversified with investor participation from Asia (29 per cent), Europe (14 per cent) and Middle East (57 per cent). Within the final order book, Banks accounted for 61 per cent, Fund Managers 24 per cent, Insurance and Pension Funds 9 per cent, Private Banks 5 per cent and others 1 per cent. Emirates Islamic Bank successfully achieved all of its issue objectives of capitalizing on the positive sentiment in International markets, low interest rate environment and strong Islamic liquidity. This issuance marks the first USD public bond issuance by Emirates Islamic Bank since 2007. This successful sukuk issue will result in US$500m of new 5-year funding for the Bank and was very well received in the market, as evident by the oversubscription, tight pricing and depth of investor base. This issue also demonstrates the confidence that the global capital markets have in the Emirates NBD Group. Emirates NBD is a leading banking Group in the region. As of June 30,  2011 total assets were Dh288.1 billion. The group has a leading retail banking franchise in the UAE, with over 141 branches and over 740 ATMs and SDMs. It is a major player in the UAE corporate banking arena and has strong Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management and brokerage operations.