Middle East

HSBC’s new strategic plan involves numerous changes to its investment banking division, including shifting resources to Asia and the Middle East, reducing the scale of many operations in the European markets business, and combining product functions with commercial banking.

Saudi Arabia's Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company will issue its second sukuk in four months as it embarked upon a roadshow on Monday for a seven year Reg S dollar deal.

Nabil Lahham has joined HSBC to head up advisory and corporate finance coverage for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. He was most recently at Perella Weinberg Partners.

First Abu Dhabi Bank capped a productive week for both itself and GCC issuers on Wednesday as it sold a £450m three year bond to sterling investors who were raring to diversify their holdings.

Foreign investors maintained their strong bid for Gulf bonds this week, taking half the allocations for a $750m five year sukuk deal from Boubyan Bank.

US buyout group KKR has said it will not make a bid for the beleaguered UAE healthcare company NMC Health, dampening investor hopes of a rescue buyout and sending its shares and convertible bonds lower.

Emirates NBD Bank pulled in demand five times the size of its benchmark dollar bond on Monday, showing little sign of that wider market concerns about the coronavirus outbreak were having any effect on emerging market bonds.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) issued its first post-merger Kangaroo bond on Tuesday, raising A$350m ($234.9m) — becoming the first Middle Eastern bank to tap the market in two years.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is ready to hop into the Kangaroo market this week, having mandated a pair of banks to lead a potential five year Aussie dollar deal, offering an attractive spread.

Shares in NMC Health, the beleaguered UAE healthcare company, surged as much as 18% on Monday morning after it said it had received takeover approaches from buyout firms KKR and GK Investment.

First Abu Dhabi Bank signalled its intention to tap the sterling bond market on Monday, announcing investor calls for a short dated offering.

The Republic of Turkey made its much anticipated start to the year with a bang on Thursday, taking advantage of feverish risk appetite among emerging markets investors to sell its largest ever bond, a $4bn dual tranche deal.