PHOTO
Manama – ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners (ASAR), one of the Gulf region’s top tier law firms has acted as sole transaction counsel to Eskan Bank and Securities & Investment Company (SICO) in the structuring and initial public offering of the Sharia-compliant Eskan Bank Realty Income Trust (EBRIT), Bahrain's first retail real estate investment trust.
The IPO, which closed on 6 December 2016, offered approximately 145 million units of the total 198 million units in issuance at an offer price of 100 fils per unit, a total value of BD 14.4 million (USD 38.2 million). The IPO achieved 95.5 % percent subscription, with total subscription of nearly 138 million units for BD 13.8 million (USD 36.6 million). The units have been listed for trading on the Bahrain Bourse on 2 January 2017.
EBRIT’s IPO represents a landmark transaction introducing for the first time in Bahrain a new asset class – listed retail real estate investment trusts. This deal involves numerous other firsts, including: the first retail real estate investment trust to be the offered through an IPO in Bahrain; the first listing under the retail real estate investment trust listing and trading rules of the Bahrain Bourse; and the first retail real estate investment trust to be structured under the newly enacted Bahrain Trusts Law of 2016. The ASAR team working on the transaction included Steven Brown, Managing Attorney of ASAR’s Bahrain office, Senior Associate Simone Del Nevo and Associate Mahmood Al-Oraibi.
Mr. Sam Habbas – Senior Partner at ASAR - noted that: “We are delighted to have been involved in EBRIT’s successful IPO. ASAR has a long established history of acting as counsel in capital markets transactions and we are very proud of being at the forefront of legal innovation and to have participated in setting the local standard for this new asset class. The successful conclusion of this IPO is the result of the hard work of SICO, EBRIT, and the relevant regulators in Bahrain.”
With dedicated offices in Bahrain and Kuwait coupled with its associated offices and relationships, ASAR provides clients across an extensive range of industry sectors with comprehensive legal advice and support for their business activities in Kuwait, Bahrain, across the GCC and beyond.
The firm has been consistently rated as a leading corporate and commercial law firm in Bahrain by reputable legal guides such as the International Financial Law Review (IFLR), Chambers Global Guide, and the Legal 500.
ASAR lawyers have also received multiple awards under different categories in the Fourth Edition of ‘Best Lawyers’.
-Ends-
About ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners (ASAR)
ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners ("ASAR") is a leading corporate law firm and one of the most prominent firms operating across the GCC. ASAR provides clients with comprehensive legal support for their business activities. Together with its office in Kuwait, the firm advises a broad array of local and international businesses in both the public and private sectors.
ASAR operates across an extensive list of practices that include banking and finance, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, corporate and commercial transactions, energy, real estate, restructuring, private equity, shipping, employment, environment, franchising, insurance, agencies and distributorships, construction, government projects, intellectual property, securities, taxation, commercial litigation and arbitration.
The firm has been consistently rated as a leading corporate and commercial law firm in Bahrain by legal guides such as the Chambers Global Guide, International Financial Law Review and the Legal 500.
For more information, please contact:
Ruba Shawar
T: +973 1756 1725
M: +973 3944 8801
E: ruba.shawar@ogilvy.com
© Press Release 2017
