Emirates Islamic made headlines with its landmark $750 million senior unsecured sukuk. Issued through a special purpose vehicle, the deal marked a significant development for the Islamic finance sector in the UAE and wider region.
The issuance attracted overwhelming demand, closing with an order book of $2.1 billion – an oversubscription of 2.8 times the initial offering. The sukuk was priced competitively with a profit rate of 5.431% per annum, tightened to a spread of 100 basis points over five-year US Treasuries.
Demand was geographically broad, yet rooted in the issuer’s home region: 66% of allocations went to MENA accounts, while Europe and the UK received 15%, Asia 11% and US offshore investors 8%.
Proceeds will finance green, sustainable and social projects under Emirates NBD Group’s Sustainable Finance Framework and in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, linking the tight execution to tangible environmental and social outcomes.
