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Kuwait City : Gulf Insurance Group, one of the leading insurance service providers in the Middle East and North Africa, announced today the successful issue of KWD 60 million Perpetual non-call 5 subordinated Tier 2 bonds, representing its debut issuance in the debt capital markets. The issue attracted a large number of local institutional and qualified investors and achieved an oversubscription in a short period, signifying GIG’s financial strength.
Kamco Invest, a regional non-banking financial powerhouse, acted as the Lead Manager and Structuring Advisor for GIG’s debut issuance.
The bonds were issued in two tranches, a fixed coupon tranche with a coupon of 4.5% and floating coupon tranche with a coupon of 2.75% over the Central Bank of Kuwait’s discount rate. The bonds have been assigned an issue rating of “BBB+” by S&P Global Ratings and provide eligible Tier 2 capital to further enhance GIG’s financial strength. GIG continues to benefit from a rating of “A” from S&P Global Ratings, “A (Excellent)” from A.M Best and A3 from Moody’s.
This bond issuance represents an important milestone in Kuwait’s capital market being the first bond issuance by an insurance company and the first perpetual bond issuance denominated in Kuwaiti Dinar.
It is worth noting that earlier this year, the Group announced the completion of the acquisition of AXA's operations in the Gulf region, making Gulf Insurance Group one of the largest and most diversified insurance groups in the Middle East and North Africa. After the full integration of AXA's operations in the Gulf region, the Group's premiums are expected to reach approximately USD2.5 billion in 2022, according to "AM Best", the American credit rating agency that focuses on the insurance industry, which recently affirmed “A” rating of the Group's with stable outlook.
Khaled Saoud Al Hasan, Group CEO of GIG commented,
“The successful issuance of the bond reaffirms our strong financial position and investors’ confidence in our competitive position and future. This issuance will not only contribute to enhancing our capital adequacy but will support our ongoing growth strategy.”
Faisal Mansour Sarkhou, CEO of Kamco Invest said,
“We are thrilled by the demand we have witnessed on the GIG bond which is a testimony of the need for investment grade debt instruments. The healthy responses received from investors also reflect their confidence in the region and the private sector. This success would not have been achieved without the high professionalism and support of the Insurance Regulatory Unit and the Capital Markets Authority”
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About GIG:
GIG is the largest insurance Group in Kuwait in terms of written and retained premiums, with operations in life and non-life as well as Takaful insurance. GIG has become one of the largest insurance networks in the Middle East and North Africa with companies in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, UAE, KSA, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Its reported consolidated assets stand at US$ 2.66 billion as at 30 June 2021.
KIPCO – Kuwait Projects Company – is Gulf Insurance Group’s largest shareholder, followed by the Canadian-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
Gulf Insurance Group enjoys the privilege of being the first triple-rated insurance Group in Kuwait. The Group holds a Financial Strength Rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of ‘a’ with Stable outlook from A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited, a Financial Strength Rating of “A” with Stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s and an Insurance Financial Strength Rating (IFSR) of ‘A3’ from Moody’s Investors Service carrying a negative outlook.
About Kamco Invest
Kamco Investment Company K.S.C (Public) “Kamco Invest” is a regional non-banking financial powerhouse headquartered in Kuwait with offices in key regional financial markets, established in 1998 and listed on Boursa Kuwait in 2003. It is an independently managed subsidiary of KIPCO Group adopting highest standards of corporate governance and regulated by the Capital Markets Authority and Central Bank of Kuwait.
Kamco Invest has AUM of over USD14.5bn as of 30 September 2021 allocated to various asset classes and jurisdictions, making it the fifth largest asset manager in the GCC. It has acted as investment banker to deals exceeding USD27.9bn from its inception to 30 September 2021 in equity capital markets, debt capital markets and mergers & acquisitions.
© Press Release 2021
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