Middle East Bonds

UAE dock operator DP World sold a $1bn convertible bond on Thursday, the biggest equity-linked deal in the Middle East and North Africa since 2011.

Georges Elhedery has been appointed as head of global banking and markets, MENA at HSBC.

Emaar Malls Group’s tightly $750m 4.564% 10 year sukuk has performed well in its first day of secondary trading, despite having been priced at the tight end of guidance that had already been refined lower twice.

Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) made a dazzling bond market debut on Wednesday, taking over €3bn equivalent across four tranches of dollar and euro notes. The huge crossover bid from European investment grade accounts for corporate EM paper provided tight pricing and a strong secondary performance, and debt bankers expect it to draw a series of debut names to the euro market before year end.

Al Hilal looks set to become the first bank in the United Arab Emirates to issue a tier one perpetual sukuk since Dubai Islamic Bank brought $1bn in March last year. This would also provide the first test of demand since Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s tier two last year drew attention to a shortfall in the central bank’s provisions for such instruments.

Emaar Malls Group’s tightly $750m 4.564% 10 year sukuk has performed well in its first day of secondary trading, despite having been priced at the tight end of guidance that had already been refined lower twice.

Emaar Malls Group has priced $750m of 10 year sukuk at the tight end of twice refined guidance at 182.5bp over mid-swaps, having secured a $5.4bn order book.

Turkish participation bank Albaraka Turk has removed BNP Paribas from its previously indicated arrangers, having mandated banks for a Reg S dollar sukuk roadshow beginning this week.

Emaar Malls Group has priced $750m of 10 year sukuk at the tight end of twice refined guidance at 182.5bp over mid-swaps, having secured a $5.4bn order book.

Books for Emaar Malls Group’s 10 year benchmark sukuk have already passed $2bn with roadshows still underway, after the company gave initial price thoughts on Tuesday of 200bp area over mid-swaps.

A fat pipeline of sukuk and bonds before the end of the month should add to what is already one of the busiest quarters on record for Middle East dollar deals. With Ramadan and the summer slowdown approaching, this extra surge is a big test of market depth — particularly for sukuk — but it is one which the market should pass comfortably.

Richad Soundardjee became Société Générale’s chief region officer for the Middle East and chief executive officer of its Dubai office in October, having previously headed global capital markets for the CEEMEA region at the bank. He spoke with GlobalCapital / IFIS’s Dan Alderson about SocGen’s plans for its Islamic finance business with a particular focus on structured finance — and how those two areas of business will play a part in the region’s development.