Dubai: DIFC Investments LLC (DIFCI), late on Thursday successfully priced its $700 million 10-year sukuk issued at par with a 4.325 per cent profit rate.
The transaction, which represents DIFCI’s return to the debt capital markets since its issuance in 2007, was priced at 185bps spread over US dollar mid swaps.
DIFCI’s transaction is the first dollar-denominated benchmark issuance by a regional corporate since July 2014.
Ahead of the Sukuk issuance, DIFCI was assigned a BBB- issuer credit rating by S&P. Shortly after receiving its credit rating, DIFCI undertook an extensive marketing strategy covering Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and London.
The orderbook opened on Monday November 3 during London morning and the orderbook quickly gained momentum and was in excess of $1.9 billion by London close of business. The strong investor interest was sustained throughout Asia and the orderbook grew to approximately $3 billion, representing approximately 4.3 times oversubscription.
“We are extremely pleased with the success of this transaction. The Sukuk represents a milestone in DIFC’s credit story and acts as a testament for the improved credit fundamentals of the company” said. Essa Abdulfattah Kazim, Governor of DIFC,
Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, Noor Bank. and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers on the issuance. The sukuk will be listed on the NASDAQ Dubai.
