Arabian Centres announces completion of USD denominated sukuk worth $500 mln

Arabian Centres Co. has announced that it has completed the offering of its USD denominated Shariah-compliant sukuk at a par value of $200,000.

With an issuance size of $500 million, the sukuk is intended for general corporate purposes and to fulfill the company’s financial and strategic needs, which includes refinancing the company’s existing debt.

The fixed-rate, USD denominated sukuk, with a tenor of five years, carried a coupon rate of 5.375%, the company said in a statement.

The issue was four times oversubscribed, with non-GCC international investors accounting for 84% of the total transaction allocation.

“As we expand our portfolio of prime leisure hubs in the Kingdom’s most important population centers, this transaction will provide us with optimum cash resources and liquidity to pursue our medium-term expansion plans and develop the world class retail product that the sophisticated Saudi consumer now demands,” Olivier Nougarou, CEO at Arabian Centres Co., said.

The sukuk certificates have been assigned a rating of Ba2 by Moody’s and are expected to be assigned a rating of BB+ by Fitch.

The joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the sukuk included Goldman Sachs International, HSBC Bank plc, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, Mashreqbank psc, Samba Capital and Investment Management Company, and Warba Bank K.S.C.P.