The Kingdom of Bahrain has broken new ground with a $1 billion commodity murabaha term financing, marking its first Shariah-compliant syndicated term facility.
Fully underwritten by Middle Eastern banks, the transaction introduced an accordion feature that will be opened to further investors in a later phase, signalling confidence in regional liquidity.
Structured under AAOIFI guidelines, the murabaha drew on financiers from across the GCC and runs in parallel with a conventional tranche, delivering what arrangers describe as a back-to-back structure that establishes a clear pricing curve for Bahraini borrowers.
By creating that benchmark in the loan market, the deal is expected to lower entry barriers for corporates, financial institutions and other entities seeking Islamic funding in the Kingdom.
Emirates Islamic served as joint coordinator, initial bookrunner and mandated lead arranger. Standard Chartered acted as joint global coordinator, lead manager and bookrunner.
