Published: September 11, 2014
Emirate raises US$750mn in 10-year paper.
The emirate of Sharjah has raised US$750mn in a heavily oversubscribed debut sukuk issuance. The 10-year paper attracted orders of US$7.85bn from 250 investors and priced with a profit rate of 3.764%.
Half of the issuance was picked up by investors from the Middle East, 20% by UK investors, 11% by other European investors and 14% by investors from Asia, the emirate’s government said in a press statement.
It added: “The issuance will provide a benchmark for any transactions undertaken by Sharjah entities in both the wider public sector and the private sector. It will also enhance the efforts of the UAE authorities to develop the local financial markets.”
HSBC was global coordinator and bookrunner, while Kuwait Finance House, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered were also bookrunners. Investor meetings were held in Singapore, Malaysia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the UK.
Lacking the large oil deposits of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, Sharjah accounts for just 5% of the economic output of the United Arab Emirates. It is, however, the only economy in the Middle East in which no single economic sector accounts for more than 20% of GDP, making it better diversified and in some ways more resilient than its oil-rich neighbours.