GCC

Kuwait's Warba Bank is embarking on a roadshow to market its first senior unsecured sukuk. The dollar five year note is expected to be printed “around the 3% mark”, according to a DCM banker on the deal.

Holders of the defaulted EA Partners bonds claim that Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi gave them implicit guarantees for the notes, which were issued to fund other troubled airlines. The bondholders, backed by restructuring advisers and corporate sleuths, are buckling up for a battle for their money. Karoliina Liimatainen reports.

Global banks have been stepping up their pitches to win the mandate for oil giant Saudi Aramco's $100bn IPO during the second week of meetings, as competition heated up to win a spot on the on-again, off-again blockbuster sale.

Investors this week have again affirmed their confidence that Middle Eastern issuance will be the redeeming factor in emerging markets this year with a handful of names expected to raise debt, despite a challenging third quarter.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), is close to finalising its second syndicated loan, which is scheduled for September. Margins are slimmer than on the borrower’s debut last year, according to bankers, though some in the market wondered if the fund will push even further on pricing before the deal is done.

Equity bankers flew out to the Middle East this week to pitch for roles in the IPO of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state oil and gas giant, according to equity capital markets sources.

Albaraka Turk Participation Bank and the Islamic Development Bank have signed a $40m Islamic financing facility to support small and medium enterprises in Turkey.

Middle East loans activity has fallen this year, confounding last year's hopes among bankers, with blame falling indirectly on the US-China trade war and sluggish global growth.

United Arab Emirates aircraft lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has raised $490m in loans, its third syndicated loan in the last 12 months.

Emirates NBD, a Dubai-based bank, has closed its dual-tranche loan at $500m with 15 lenders, increasing it from an initial size of $400m.

Rating: B2/B/B+

Bank of Sharjah is planning to print both tier one and senior bonds before the end of 2019, according to two DCM bankers in Dubai.