Middle East Bonds

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat opened books on a seven year dollar debut sukuk on Monday, and will price a benchmark transaction on Tuesday.

The Republic of Turkey will price a 10 year dollar sukuk on Tuesday, after releasing initial price thoughts on Monday that some debt bankers felt were on the cheap side.

Fitch has placed Jebel Ali Free Zone’s (Jafza) issuer and sukuk ratings on Rating Watch Positive (RWP), after DP World announced it plans to buy Jafza and the rest of Economic Zones World.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat will price a seven year debut sukuk transaction of up to $600m on Tuesday.

Egypt's Euroget de Invest ended a six day execution on Thursday night, printing a secured amortizing dollar deal at a higher yield and lower size that it had originally targeted. Debt bankers on the bond put the tricky execution down to a complex SPV structure, which they said pushed up the premium buyers demanded.

Egypt's Euroget de Invest failed to price its inaugural Eurobond this week despite widening price guidance to 12%.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat started a roadshow this week ahead of its first benchmark dollar sukuk. Investors are happy to see a new international sukuk issuer in the market, but are concerned that Mumtalakat's support for struggling airline Gulf Air will be a drain on resources.

Emirates NBD printed a $1bn five year deal with a minimal new issue premium and minimum of fuss on Wednesday, enjoying smooth execution and a strong secondary performance.

Egypt's Euroget de Invest failed to price its inaugural Eurobond on Wednesday despite widening price guidance to 12%.

Israel Chemicals has picked banks for its first ever bond deal, and starts investor meetings on Thursday to support the long-dated dollar benchmark.

Hopes for a big end to the year in dollar sukuk issuance have been triple-boosted this week, with Pakistan reviving its plans to come to market while Flydubai and Mumtalakat are set to begin roadshows on Thursday. A grand finale has been made possible – but it will need fast work.

The outcome of make-or-break talks that resumed this week between western powers and Iran over its nuclear programme is far from certain, with a self-imposed deadline for resolution approaching on November 24. But that hasn't dampened Iran’s optimism about returning to international capital markets, with the country’s Islamic finance industry positioning to take advantage of a surge in foreign investment should there be a positive move on sanctions.