Dubai: Emaar Properties PJSC, the developer of the world’s tallest skyscraper, and Kuwait’s Burgan Bank SAK raised $1.25 billion (Dh4.59 billion) from bond sales on Wednesday as Gulf offerings head for a record year.
Emaar sold $750 million of 10-year Islamic securities, pricing them at 225 basis points over the benchmark midswap rate, according to a person with knowledge of the deal, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Burgan Bank raised $500 million from a sale of five-year dollar securities that will carry a spread of 215 basis points over midswaps.
Corporate bond sales are picking up amid a rush of sovereign issuance in the oil-exporting region. Countries in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes the two biggest Arab economies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is set to raise a record amount of debt this year to plug deficits amid a slump in the price of crude. Sales have climbed to $40.1 billion so far in 2016, helped by issues from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, poised to surpass 2012’s record of $43.6 billion.
Saudi Arabia is expected to raise at least $10 billion in October from its first offering of international securities, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.
Emaar’s bond is its first since 2014, when its Emaar Malls PJSC unit raised $750 million from a debut sale of Islamic notes. National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, the emirate’s biggest lender, has held investor meetings for the region’s first green bonds and may also price an issue this week.
