Clifford Chance has advised Majid Al Futtaim Holding LLC (Majid Al Futtaim) in relation to the issuance of US$500 million reset subordinated perpetual notes (the Notes) by MAF Global Securities Limited, irrevocably guaranteed on a joint and several basis by Majid Al Futtaim and Majid Al Futtaim Properties LLC.
This issuance marks the second issuance of hybrid notes by Majid Al Futtaim. Hybrid issuances by corporates are relatively rare in the region – Majid Al Futtaim's last hybrid issuance in 2013 was one of the first international hybrid bond issuances by a regional corporate borrower.
The Notes qualify for 50% equity credit from each of Fitch and Standard & Poor's and are callable at 5.5 years (with interest step-ups at 5.5 years, 10.5 years and 25.5 years if the Notes are not called). Interest payments can be optionally deferred at Majid Al Futtaim's discretion (subject to certain conditions). The Notes were issued on 7 March 2017 and will be admitted to trading on the regulated market of the Irish Stock Exchange.
Majid Al Futtaim is one of the largest developers and operators of shopping malls and hypermarkets in the MENA region. Founded in Dubai in 1992 to bring the first regional shopping mall to the Middle East, Majid Al Futtaim's activities have since grown to include hotel development and the provision of synergistic leisure and entertainment products and services. As at 31 December 2016, Majid Al Futtaim operated 20 shopping malls, 77 Carrefour hypermarkets and 95 Carrefour supermarkets and a number of other entertainment offerings (including 27 cinemas), predominantly in the MENA region.
Stuart Ure, Partner at Clifford Chance, commented: "We are delighted to have been involved in this highly successful transaction which once again demonstrated the strong investor demand and international perception of Majid Al Futtaim credit – this in turn led to this issuance having a high quality order book of over US$1.8 billion".
The Clifford Chance team was led by Stuart Ure (Partner), who was assisted by Alekhya Prakash (Senior Associate) and Julian Walley (Associate). All are based in Dubai.
Barclays, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Global Co-ordinators and Structuring Advisors and, together with Emirates NBD Capital and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, acted as the Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners for the issuance.
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For further information about this release contact Magdalena Suder, Head of BD & Marketing, Middle East, Clifford Chance, on+971 4 503 2744.
© Press Release 2017
