Stock - Masaar from Arada
The all-villa Massar project in Sharjah. Arada is the developer behind this. The $350 million Sukuk, which raised $720 million in subscriptions, raises Arada's profile quite significantly. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: The Sharjah master-developer Arada has made its first overseas move to tap the debt markets, raising a $350 million Sukuk listed on London Stock Exchange. The offer drew $720 million in subscriptions, confirming strong regional and global interest in blue-chip UAE corporate houses.

Arada thus becomes the first corporate issuer from Sharjah since 2017 - and the first real estate issuer from the region in 2022. This is also the first dollar-benchmarked issue in two months from a ‘non-sovereign’ entity. The Sukuk issuance saw strong demand from both regional and international investors, with a subscription order of $720 million, more than two times the offer size.

“The closure of our debut Sukuk on the London Stock Exchange is an exceptional endorsement from international institutional investors of both Arada’s track record and its future prospects,” said Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, Vice-Chairman of Arada. “We are delighted that this issuance has appealed to the market appetite for stable companies with a good history of strong management, transparency, and good governance.”

Funds in use
The Sukuk will be used for the management of existing bilateral funding, general corporate purposes and to support the development of Arada’s existing projects.