Saudi Arabia’s mall operator Arabian Centres Company plans to issue dollar-denominated sukuk or Islamic bonds.

The board approved the move on March 23 to help meet funding requirements and business strategy, the company, which has 21 shopping centres in its portfolio, told the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The offering will be this year’s first Saudi sukuk issuance in the global market. It is still subject to the approval of relevant regulatory authorities.

The number and value of bonds to be issued will also be determined “based on market conditions and the company’s financial condition”, the company said.

Arabian Centres’ net profit fell 34 percent to 359.7 million riyals ($96 million) during the last nine months ending December 31, 2020.

Just this month, it signed a deal to acquire 25.5 percent of the share capital of Vogacloset Limited, the owner and operator of e-commerce platform www.vogacloset.com for 68.9 million riyals.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com

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