Dubai Islamic Bank, the largest sharia-compliant bank in the United Arab Emirates, has appointed banks ahead of a potential benchmark-sized US dollar sukuk sale, banking sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.
The group of banks arranging the deal includes Bank ABC, Boubyan Bank, Emirates NBD, HSBC, Maybank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information is private.
Dubai Islamic Bank did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The planned Islamic debt issuance would come at a busy time in the Gulf Cooperation Council debt capital market, as banks, sovereigns and corporates tap international funds to replenish their coffers and improve liquidity, which has been squeezed by low oil prices.
After an issue in January by Bahrain’s Gulf International Bank, the UAE’s Bank of Sharjah recently mandated Bank ABC, Emirates NBD, JP Morgan and National Bank of Abu Dhabi to arrange fixed income investor meetings for a potential senior unsecured five-year international bond.
Kuwait’s Equate Petrochemical <IPO-EQUP.KW> announced on Wednesday the dates of a series of investor meetings ahead of a potential sukuk issue, while Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Oman and possibly Saudi Arabia are among the regional sovereigns expected soon to raise dollar-denominated debt.
DIB’s sukuk, expected to be upwards of $500 million, is likely to be a five-year deal, said one of the bankers. The timing of the issue has not been decided yet, but the Islamic bond could hit the market next week, said the same banker.
DIB’s latest sukuk was a $500 million five-year issue in March last year which offered a 3.6 percent profit rate. The bond, part of a $2.5 billion sukuk programme, was listed on the Dubai Financial Market and the Irish Stock Exchange.
