Dubai: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, one of the largest commercial banks of the UAE, has raised $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) via five-year, dollar-denominated Islamic bonds, or sukuk, at 275 basis points over mid swaps, two bankers familiar with the deal said yesterday.
"It went to a very broad base of investors across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East," one banker, who declined to be identified, told Zawya Dow Jones.
The lender, in an emailed statement yesterday, confirmed it has priced its maiden five-year, $500 million sukuk transaction that carries a profit rate of 4.071 per cent.
"The trade received an overwhelming response from investors with the book building more than $1.4 billion in a span of five hours of its launch in the backdrop of very volatile and challenging market conditions," ADCB said.
"The Islamic nature of the issue helped secure strong investor demand and this reflected in the pricing of the trade at the tight end of the guidance," the bank's Group Treasurer Kevin Taylor said in the statement.
Raising debt
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services earlier this week assigned an ‘A' rating to the proposed sukuk of the Abu Dhabi-based lender, while Moody's Investors Service put an ‘A1' rating on the bonds with a negative outlook.
Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, Bank Of America Merrill Lynch and ADCB managed the sukuk sale.
After a lull in credit market activity due to difficult global market conditions, several UAE companies are looking to raise debt again. Market conditions remain difficult due to Europe's debt crisis.
