GCC

Head of corporate finance leaves Abu Dhabi bank after former HSBC regional head arrives to run investment bank

Commercial Bank of Qatar has signed its latest loan in a year when fewer Middle East borrowers come to the market but those that have done so have arrived in bigger size

Saudi Arabia is expected to keep emerging market investors occupied in the second half of the year due to a burgeoning pipeline of IPOs, following strong performance of Saudi equities in 2021 so far.

First Abu Dhabi Bank has sold its inaugural bond linked to the secured overnight financing rate (Sofr), becoming the first borrower in the United Arab Emirates to do so.

ING has promoted Sebastian Frederiks to become head of wholesale banking for the Middle East.

A bulging pipeline of business is livening up the UAE’s formerly sleepy equity capital markets, after a series of eye-catching transactions in recent weeks following the biggest IPO in the area for almost three years.

Arabian Centres, the Saudi Arabia shopping centre operator, is set to tap its dollar sukuk. The recent drop in US rates, combined with the anticipation of rising rates later in the year, has provided impetus for emerging market issuers to enter markets.

Banks wrapped up the $730m-equivalent IPO of Abu Dhabi satellite company Yahsat on Thursday with high levels of demand, particularly from local investors.

Rating: Baa3/BBB-/—

The IPO of Al Yah Satellite Communications Co, the Abu Dhabi satellite company, is covered throughout the initial price range, on a 30% deal size, according to sources close to the deal.

The Emirate of Sharjah is returning to the international bond market just months after its last visit, but this time marketing a sukuk that will place it among the ranks of major emerging market issuers — both sovereign and corporate — to have raised cash at competitive levels recently with the Sharia-compliant instrument.

Emaar Properties, the UAE-based luxury real estate developer, was planning to sell a dollar sukuk on Tuesday. It followed a string of emerging market Sharia-compliant trades in recent weeks that have been absorbed by a hungry investor base.