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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: Al Hilal Bank PJSC, rated A2 by Moody's and A+ by Fitch has successfully closed a USD500 million 5-year Senior Sukuk.
The transaction, under Al Hilal Bank’s new management team, marks the first Senior Public Sukuk from the UAE since April 2018, and re-opens the Capital markets for GCC issuers. Al Hilal Bank was last in the market with a Senior Public Sukuk in 2013.
The success of the transaction came on the back of an extensive marketing strategy aimed at updating International and Regional investors with regard to Al Hilal Bank’s strategy and financial performance.
The management team, led by CEO, Alex Coelho, met with over 90 institutional investors in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai prior to placing the Sukuk. Mr. Coelho was joined in the meetings by Craig Bell, CFO and David Whitcroft, Treasurer.
Mr. Coelho provided details to investors on the Bank’s strong shareholder support, the exceptional make-up and commitment of the Bank’s Board and the prospects offered to the Bank by the Abu Dhabi economy.
He stressed ‘quality’ as the key reference point for the Bank’s strategy. In particular, he highlighted the focus on high quality Financings and the “best-in-class” Risk Management and Governance. Mr. Coelho said that he was proud to reference the Bank’s highly valued and loyal customer base as a key strength.
“Given these factors,” he noted, “The Bank has a very strong base and is ideally positioned to grow in alignment with the economic ambitions of the UAE.” In the context of a return to Senior Public Sukuk issuance after a gap of 5 years, Mr. Coelho said that Al Hilal Bank is committed to accessing global markets to diversify funding sources and further enhancing the Bank’s strong liquidity profile.
Investors reacted positively to Al Hilal Bank’s strategy. The order book reached USD1.4bn (close to 3 times oversubscription) with demand from over 70 investors. The investor base was diversified geographically, with a 25% allocation to Europe, 20% to Asia and 55% to the Middle East.
David Whitcroft, the Treasurer of Al Hilal Bank, commented, "The Bank's management team has taken the opportunity to continually promote and showcase the strength of the Abu Dhabi economy and the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 in all of our meetings with global investors. The Bank's positioning and strategy has been very well received. This has resulted in a deal that is seen by all parties to be considerable success for Al Hilal Bank."Mr. Coelho concluded, “Al Hilal Bank is very pleased with the success of this transaction, which highlights the confidence placed by investors in the Bank’s Board, management team and strategic direction. We are proud to have access to a diverse and International investor base, which allows us to implement our funding strategy in a timely and cost efficient manner. The capital markets are ever more important to us going forward and we, as always, appreciate investors’ confidence in our name.”
Al Hilal Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Nomura and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners on the Sukuk.
The Sukuk was issued as a “drawdown” under Al Hilal Bank’s USD2.5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme, which is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.
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About Al Hilal Bank
Established in 2007, Al Hilal Bank is a progressive Islamic bank headquartered in Abu Dhabi (UAE) offering a wide range of client-centric Shariah compliant Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, Treasury and Wealth Management. The bank is 100% owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi, through the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), with issued and paid up capital of AED3.5 billion. The Bank enjoys strong long-term credit ratings of A+ and A2 by Fitch and Moody’s respectively. The Bank has 17 retail branches across the UAE and 3 branches in Kazakhstan through which they offer digital-based services, enhancing the Bank’s performance-driven culture. Al Hilal Bank has been recognized as the Safest Islamic Financial Institution in the GCC by Global Finance in 2016 and in 2017.
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