Saudi Arabia
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A brace of sukuk trades from the Gulf this week racked up enormous order books, demonstrating the voracious demand for Sharia-compliant paper. With a hungry investor base, sukuk issuance is expected to grow, despite some "teething problems". -
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, entered the Sharia-compliant bond market for the first time on Wednesday, with what market participants called a tool for investor diversification. Proceeds from the capital raising are expected to fund Aramco's $75bn dividend.
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Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Development Company has raised a green loan, marking the second deal of its kind raised in the kingdom and the first in local currency. Funds will be used to support the development of the country's new tourist attraction, the Red Sea Project.
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Banks are training their Middle East efforts on Saudi Arabia, where they are hoping to capitalise on growing capital markets activity. The result is a slug-fest for the best banking talent, but firms must learn the lessons of the past, writes David Rothnie.
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Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal has hired a seasoned advisor to bolster its Middle East advisory team, as it seeks to be an integral part of the region's diversification transformation.
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Gulf corporates Ooredoo, Nogaholding and Arabian Centres sprung into the bond market this week, defying revived market volatility to raise dollar funding. The string of corporate issuance follows a similar streak from the region’s FIG issuers last week.
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The Saudi-headquartered Islamic Development Bank is set to sell a dollar bond on Wednesday, having launched the deal on Tuesday. The sustainability sukuk is one of two FIG deals from the Gulf region this week, as Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank also entered the market for a dollar sukuk.
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A handful of bond mandates from the CEEMEA region this week suggests that issuer confidence may be on the rise across emerging markets after a particularly turbulent period of sell-offs in US Treasury bonds.
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The Islamic Development Bank mandated banks on Monday to arrange a sustainability sukuk, having forayed into the market last year with a Covid-focused deal. Fellow Gulf-based issuer Boubyan Bank has also mandated banks for a dollar sukuk.
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Volatility in global and commodity markets coupled with regulatory challenges are putting pressure on issuers and investors involved in the Sharia-compliant financing market.
