Middle East

Saudi Arabian food and beverage producer Almarai has secured a $100m loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support expansion in Egypt and Jordan.

HSBC will not be making cuts to its equity capital markets or its equity trading capabilities after announcing the results of a strategic review on Tuesday. The bank will be reducing headcount in sales and research, but said that its execution ability in ECM will not be affected in any way.

Riyad Bank has tightened price guidance on its 10 year non-call five tier two bond, with order books at over $4.8bn for the note.

The Islamic Development Bank is returning to the international sukuk market for a five year Reg S dollar benchmark.

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.