Sunday, Jan 15, 2012
(This story was originally published on Thursday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--First Gulf Bank's (FGB.AD) $500 million, five-year Islamic bond, or sukuk, was oversubscribed receiving orders worth $1.4 billion, the Abu Dhabi-based lender said Thursday.
"This is our second Sukuk transaction, and we have witnessed overwhelming responses in both times from investors in the Middle East, Europe and Asia," Andre Sayegh, the bank's chief executive, said in an emailed statement.
Investors from the Middle East were allocated 69% of the sukuk, while Asia got 16% and Europe received 15%, according to FGB.
The sukuk will carry a profit rate of 4.046%, and was priced late Wednesday at 287 basis points over five-year mid swaps, in line with the initial price talk, a banker familiar with the transaction, who declined to be identified, told Zawya Dow Jones.
The sukuk was issued under FGB's $3.5 billion trust certificate issuance program. Proceeds from the issue are to be used for Islamic general corporate purposes and to fund the lender's Islamic loan book growth.
Book runners for the issue included Citi, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank.
First Gulf Bank is the second U.A.E. bank this year to tap the Islamic bond market, after Emirates NBD's Islamic unit priced a $500 million sukuk Tuesday.
Dubai-based Islamic mortgage company Tamweel on Thursday announced a 5-year, $300 million Islamic bond, or sukuk, the latest local issuer to tap Islamic finance markets for funds amid tighter lending conditions in Europe and elsewhere.
-By Nikhil Lohade, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1694, nikhil.lohade@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
15-01-12 0345GMT
