First international Sukuk issue by Saudi corporate closes at USD600 million

Launched as a US$425 million issue by ABC Islamic Bank E.C., Arab National Bank, Standard Bank Plc, Unicorn Investment Bank BSC (c) and WestLB AG, the DAAR Sukuk received an overwhelming response from financial institutions across Europe, South East Asia and the GCC region. The Sukuk, which was significantly oversubscribed, raised close to US$700 million, with DAAR opting to increase the issue size to US$600 million.

The landmark 3-year issue, based on an Ijara structure, marks the first Sukuk issued by a Saudi corporate in the international capital markets.

Abdullatif Al-Shalash, a member of the board of DAAR said:

'We are delighted with the overwhelming success of this Sukuk, which reflects the strength of DAAR's business model and our strong growth prospects. That earned us a strong vote of confidence from regional and international banks which we are most grateful about. DAAR is committed maintaining its leading role in providing affordable housing solutions that meet international standards to middle income families across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.'

Majid Al-Sayed Bader Al-Refai, Unicorn Investment Bank's Managing Director & CEO said: 'This is truly a groundbreaking issuance marking a new stage in the rapid evolution of the Islamic capital markets, and its enormous success demonstrates the demand that exists globally for well-structured Sharia-compliant investments.'

Naveed Khan, Managing Director at ABC Islamic Bank (E.C.) commented: 'The overwhelming response from the regional and international market clearly underscores two important aspects: first, the continuing appetite for well-structured Sukuk transactions, and second, regional real estate as an emerging asset class from the region. This clearly is a landmark transaction and ABC Islamic Bank (E.C.) is proud to be associated with the issuer and the other Joint Lead Managers who have worked so hard in such a compressed timeline to bring this transaction to the market and make it such a huge success.'

Dr. Robert Eid, Managing Director and CEO of Arab National Bank, commented: 'We are proud to have jointly arranged the debut Sukuk for Dar AlArkan. This is a landmark deal and the considerable success of the issue is a testament to investor confidence in Dar Al Arkan in particular and in Saudi Arabia in general. We aim to play an important role in the development of the Islamic banking industry and Saudi capital markets by bringing quality issues to the market.'