Dubai raises $5.6b bank financing

Dubai: Allen & Overy, a global law firm, yesterday said it has advised 13 mandated lead arrangers to raise $5.6 billion for Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), an investment arm of the Government of Dubai.

This includes the signing of a $3.6 billion conventional facility, a $1.5 billion mura-baha facility and a $500 million co-ownership facility - marking the debut bank financing for Investment Corporation of Dubai.

"The transaction signifies the growing trend of utilising both conventional and Islamic tranches for debt financings in the Middle East region," the company said in a statement.

The mandated lead arrangers on the conventional facility included Barclays Capital, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Emirates Bank International, HSBC Middle East, JPMorgan, mashreqbank, Morgan Stanley Bank International, The Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS Limited while Dubai Bank, Noor Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered Bank were those which had arranged the murabaha facility.

Allen & Overy banking consultant Shehzaad Sacranie said: "Once again the market has shown tremendous confidence in Dubai. It is a significant achievement for ICD to have raised facilities of this size given the current market conditions."

"The deal represents the increasing trend of deals being structured with conventional and Islamic tranches. In particular, it showcases the potential of Islamic institutions to help address the liquidity gap in the current market conditions," Allen & Overy banking senior associate Amar Meher said.

The Allen & Overy team on the conventional facility was led by Dubai-based partner Bimal Desai, assisted by consultant Shehzaad Sacranie while the murabaha facility was led by Dubai-based partner Anzal Mohammad assisted by senior associate Amar Meher.