BAHRAIN, 29 December 2006 -- The $200 million Lagoon City Islamic Musharaka Sukuk -- the largest sukuk issue in Kuwait for Al-Ahlia Gulf Holding Company -- was successfully closed Tuesday, the mandated lead arranger Liquidity Management Center BSC (c) said.
The issue has attracted major players in the industry including Emirates Islamic Bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank and Liquidity Management Center as senior lead managers; Rayan Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Capital Management House, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Kuwait Finance House Malaysia, the Arab Investment Company and Emirates Bank International as lead managers; and Khaleeji Commercial and Kuwait Real Estate Bank as co-lead managers. Commercial Bank of Qatar and Bank Muscat International acted as managers along with National Bonds, Arab Islamic Bank and Al-Amin Bank as participants.
"The Islamic Musharaka Sukuk, which is an international sukuk, was $75 million oversubscribed and the bank has elected to increase the facility to $200 million -- making it the largest corporate sukuk issue in Kuwait to date," Liquidity Management Center's (LMC) chief executive officer Ahmed Abbas said.
"This is a reflection of the significant confidence of the investors in the sukuk issue, our strategy and unique structured products." The Lagoon City Musharaka Sukuk is a reducing five-year Musharaka callable at end of year two by the obligor (Al-Ahlia Gulf Holding Company) and has been rated "BBB+" by Capital Intelligence," he further said.
This marks LMC's third sukuk issue in Kuwait, among the many other issues regionally, which heralds an increased focus on establishing its presence in the GCC and Kuwait markets where the bank is actively seeking infrastructure project opportunities.
© Arab News 2007
