London Stock Exchange on Tuesday listed QIIB’s $500mn sukuk, the first Qatari sukuk to be listed on the LSE.
A ceremony held in this connection was attended by QIIB chairman and managing director Sheikh Dr Khaled bin Thani al-Thani, chief executive officer, Dr Abdulbasit Ahmad al-Shaibei, Qatar ambassador to the UK, Yusuf bin Ali al-Khater, UK’s ambassador to Qatar, Ajay Sharma and Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (Middle East) Simon Penney.
The LSE listing followed a “highly successful” offering that was oversubscribed nearly seven times with investors bidding for more than seven times the amount offered, and according to QIIB “reflects the positive outlook of the Qatari economy and the strength of its financial position.”
The offering was oversubscribed by investors, mostly from outside the Middle East, with a total of $3.3bn.
The issue was priced at a spread of 175 basis points over the 5-year mid swaps carrying a fixed coupon of 4.264% per year. The participation included investors from around the world with 30% from the MEMA and 70% to other investors from Europe, Asia, Australia and other countries.
Sheikh Dr Khaled said, “We are very pleased with the success of the issuance and the listing. We are proud that confidence in the Qatari economy reached record levels among various categories of investors around the world.”
“We noticed during our promotional roadshow, prior to the issuance of the sukuk and during the issuance process that the embargo on Qatar failed miserably and bounced back on those who had imposed it. The high solvency of the Qatari economy and the strong financial position of the Qatari banks are very well appreciated and respected internationally, which helped us successfully issue the sukuk and price it very competitively,” the QIIB chairman and managing director added.
Dr al-Shaibei said, “QIIB sukuk was met with strong demand from discerning investors after being priced at competitive rates, supported by the credit ratings assigned to it by leading international rating agencies such as Moody’s (A2). The CEO noted that QIIB’s decision to list its sukuk on the London Stock Exchange was a strategic one, borne out of its confidence that London will remain a prominent international financial centre regardless of the Brexit outcome. It is also an important centre for Islamic banking instruments and will remain so during the foreseeable period.”
He said, “Sukuks, as flexible and unique investment instruments, can provide issuers such as QIIB many advantages, especially in the global financial market. They can help us to open up to investors outside the Middle East, especially those who have never dealt with the Qatari market.”
Al-Shaibei thanked the banks that have arranged the issuance: QNB Capital, Al-Khalij Commercial Bank (Al Khaliji), Barwa Bank, Boubyan Bank, Barclays Bank, MayBank and Standard Chartered Bank. He said these banks made great efforts to help QIIB successfully issue the sukuk and make it one of the best Islamic sukuk issuances in the past period.
Source Gulf Times