GCC

The Arabian Centres Co, a Saudi Arabian owner and operator of shopping centres, has launched a listing on the Saudi stock exchange.

The Islamic Development Bank has announced initial price thoughts for a five year sukuk dollar bond — its first since a euro benchmark in November 2018.

Bank are having to dig deep and increase their country lending limits to manage the vast amount of business expected to come from the Gulf as government expenditure across the region grows. The next big deal off the rank will be from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is expected to tap the loan market for a bridge loan of up to $11bn in coming months, bankers said, following its highly successful debut deal in September. Mariam Meskin reports.

Dubai-based property firm Damac has raised £175m to finance the development of its first luxury real estate project in London, Damac Tower. The deal comes amid prolonged Brexit uncertainty and a slump in the UAE’s real estate market.

Saudi Aramco might have expected a $12bn bond it issued on Tuesday to be hailed as a triumph, coming as it did well inside its sovereign curve after taking orders that at one point reached $100bn. But after pricing, the demand evaporated, the bonds fell below reoffer, and the notion that the European Market Abuse Regulation has ended the practice of order inflation was left in tatters.

Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, is due to close a $2bn loan refinancing in coming weeks, according to bankers familiar with the deal.

Saudi Aramco’s hotly anticipated $12bn bond was priced yesterday with the fanfare investors had expected. Demand for the deal was so large that the sovereign rallied 20bp as the deal printed, but stated final orderbooks of $92bn are being questioned as two investors say only the 30 year tranche is still bid above re-offer. The leads disagree, though, with one saying he saw all the tranches above their pricing levels.

Standard Chartered is paying $1.1bn in penalties to US and UK authorities in relation to breaching rules relating to sanctions and financial crime. This exceeds the $900m provision the bank announced in February for sanctions fines.

Finablr, the Abu Dhabi-based cross-border currency and financial technology holding company which owns Travelex, has filed initial paperwork ahead of announcing an intention to list on the London Stock Exchange.

Network International, the Dubai-based payment company, closes books on its IPO on Tuesday and has set what it feels is a generous range for investors, with a view to trading up when it is admitted to the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Saudi Aramco is making a splash with its bond market debut, gathering a staggering $85bn of orders for a six tranche deal expected to exceed $10bn.

Emirates NBD (ENBD) has renegotiated the price it is paying to buy Turkish lender Denizbank from Sberbank after the fall of the lira since the deal was first announced last year. Some bankers have wondered how the acquisition will be financed, but ENBD has told GlobalCapital the bank will not raise debt to fund the deal.