Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
(This story was originally published Thursday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--General Electric Capital Corp., a unit of General Electric Co. (GE), priced its benchmark $500 million Islamic bond, or sukuk, issue at 175 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, a banker familiar with the transaction said Thursday.
The banker said 50% of the investors came from the Middle East, while the remaining 50% was subscribed to by a mix of Asian and European investors.
GE Capital earlier Thursday announced that it had completed its five-year, $500 million inaugural Islamic bond issue amid strong demand.
The issue, targeted at investors in the Middle East, Asia and Europe, makes GE Capital the first U.S. corporate issuer of an Islamic bond, or sukuk, the company said in an emailed statement. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, it added.
"We intend to be regular issuers in the sukuk market and are heartened by the support we have seen in this first transaction," GE's senior vice president and treasurer Kathy Cassidy said. The company didn't provide further details.
Bankers familiar with the deal earlier Thursday said GE Capital had closed the order book for its benchmark sukuk, with orders coming in at under $1 billion.
GE Capital met investors in London, Dubai and Asia, and was expected to price the Islamic bond at around 175 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, another banker aware of the deal told Zawya Dow Jones Wednesday.
-By Nour Malas, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 364 4960; nour.malas@dowjones.com
(Mirna Sleiman in Dubai contributed to this report.)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
21-11-09 0549GMT