Nakheel mandates Dubai Islamic Bank to lead manage USD350m Ijara syndication

The financing will make further capital available to build on Nakheel's blue chip portfolio of developments such as The Palm Jumeirah and Jebel Ali, The World, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers.

DIB has been appointed as lead to manage and arrange the syndication and will be supported by HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citigroup, three of the world's leading international financial groups as co-arrangers.

The award of the lead manager's role to DIB confirms the bank's position as the leading Islamic finance institution in the region following its earlier success in winning a similar role for Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) giant $750 million issue of Sukuk Al Ijara - the largest to date - to help fund the second phase of the expansion of Dubai International Airport.

Dr. Mohammed Khalfan bin Kharbash, UAE Minister of State for Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank, welcomed the bank's appointment and said it was further confirmation of its strong position in the country for Islamic finance. He said: "The Nakheel Ijara syndication and the Sukuk issue for DCA are symbolic of the coming of age of the Islamic finance sector and the key role that DIB will play in the development of the UAE.

"DIB has specific skills and relationships that are unique and which can benefit our corporate customers. In awarding DIB this mandate, Nakheel has reconfirmed the importance of Islamic finance as a primary source of capital funding and shown their trust in the bank's capabilities."

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Executive Chairman of Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Executive Chairman of Nakheel, said DIB had been selected because the bank is the leading Islamic financial Institution in the country. "It has proved that it has the right capabilities," he said. "As Nakheel advances in its expansion and continues to develop its landmark properties, we couple our efforts with the partners that can match our high quality requirements. As the premier real estate developer of Dubai, we need to ensure that we maintain our focus on realizing the forward-thinking vision of Dubai."