Published: August 1, 2012
Development Bank of Kazakhstan raises US$77mn through debut Malaysian sukuk.
The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) has raised MYR240mn (US$77mn) in a Malaysian sukuk issuance described by one of its arrangers as an “absolutely pioneering transaction”.
The deal is the first sukuk and the first Malaysian offering from an issuer based in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The five-year paper is part of the state-owned development bank’s MYR1.5bn Islamic Medium Term Note Programme, and attracted investors from Malaysia (62%) and Kazakhstan (38%).
Kazakhstan’s Halyk Finance, Malaysia’s AmInvestmentBank and Kuwait Finance House acted as joint lead managers, while HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland acted as coordinating joint lead managers.
Arnat Abzhanov, a member of the management board at Halyk Finance, tells EMEA Finance that he hopes other issues from Kazakhstan and the wider region will now consider issuing sukuk or bonds in the Malaysian market.
“This was an absolutely pioneering transaction,” Abzhanov says. “This has become an ice-breaking deal not only for DBK but for Kazakhstan as a country – we became the first country in the CIS to issue sukuk and tap an alternative funding source for many potential issuers from our region. DBK has paved the way.”