GLOBAL: After weeks of evaluation and deliberation, IFN is pleased to announce the winners of the IFN Deals of the Year 2021.
Widely acknowledged as the industry’s most prestigious accolades recognizing the most significant Islamic finance transactions for the year, the IFN Deals of the Year Awards serve as a gauge of industry evolution through the lens of structuring innovation, market efficiency and changing industry needs.
The second year of the pandemic saw the Islamic finance industry get into its stride as COVID-19 was relegated to the background. The IFN Deals of the Year 2021 were the same, and it saw environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability as the leading themes of the Shariah finance deals of the year. Year-on-year, the absolute growth of ESG submissions hit 23%, commanding 8% of total submissions, two percentage points higher than in the prior year.
Again, Malaysian deals took the lion’s share of total submissions at 32%, followed by Saudi Arabia and Oman at 10% each, while the UAE and Turkey each represented 6%.
“The distribution of deals to new countries and markets keeps increasing. The message here is that Islamic finance continues to expand to new markets. Financial volumes, however, are dominated by Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and the UAE in that order,” noted the IFN Awards Board.
Best deal by sector
Corporate Finance | Food Security Company’s SAR2.18 billion acquisition of Second Milling Company |
Cross-border | iKcon’s cross-border acquisition by REEF Technology |
Hybrid | Saudi Aramco’s US$6 billion hybrid Sukuk |
Most Innovative | Enertech’s PKR2 billion Sukuk |
M&A, Equity & IPO | Masraf Al Rayan-Alkhaliji Commercial Bank merger |
Perpetual | Takaful Oman’s OMR6 million perpetual Sukuk |
Project & Infrastructure Finance | Infracap Resources’s RM15 billion Sukuk |
Real Estate | Jabal Omar Development Company’s SAR6 billion refinancing |
Regulatory | Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility |
Restructuring | Bank Muamalat Indonesia’s IDR10 trillion restructuring |
Social Impact | IsDB’s US$2.5 billion sustainable Sukuk |
Sovereign & Multilateral: | UK government’s GBP500 million sovereign Sukuk |
SRI & ESG | SME Bank’s RM500 million sustainable Sukuk |
Structured Finance | Cellco’s RM520 million Sukuk |
Sukuk | Emlak Katilim’s TRY51.8 million sustainable Sukuk |
Syndicated Finance | Pakistan Mobile Communication’s PKR10.5 billion syndicated finance facility |
Trade Finance | Republic of Benin’s EUR20 million financing from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation |
Best deal by structure
Commodity Murabahah/Tawarruq | BlackRock’s US$50 million Salam Private Opportunities Fund |
Ijarah | Oman Air’s OMR46 million Ijarah financing |
Mudarabah | Ominvest’s OMR52 million perpetual Sukuk Mudarabah |
Musharakah | Tropicana Corporation’s RM270 million perpetual Musharakah |
Wakalah | Malaysian government’s US$800 million Sukuk issued via Malaysia Wakala Sukuk |
Best deal by country
Bahrain | nogaholding’s US$600 million Sukuk |
Egypt | EverGrow for Specialized Fertilizers’s US$400 million restructuring |
Indonesia | Bank Muamalat Indonesia’s IDR10 trillion restructuring |
Kuwait | Kuwait Finance House’s US$750 million Tier 1 Sukuk |
Malaysia | Infracap Resources’s RM15 billion Sukuk |
Oman | Takaful Oman’s OMR6 million perpetual Sukuk |
Pakistan | Enertech’s PKR2 billion Sukuk |
Qatar | Masraf Al Rayan–Alkhaliji Commercial Bank merger |
Saudi Arabia | Saudi Aramco’s US$6 billion hybrid Sukuk |
Turkey | Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi’s US$350 million Tier 2 sustainability Sukuk |
UAE | iKcon’s cross-border acquisition by REEF Technology |
UK | Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility |
Five deals have been shortlisted for the IFN Overall Deal of the Year 2021 Award, and the winner will be revealed at the IFN Awards Ceremony in Dubai on the 15th March 2022.
Shortlist for IFN Overall Deal of the Year |
1. Masraf Al Rayan–Alkhaliji Commercial Bank merger |
2. Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility |
3. Infracap Resources’s RM15 billion Sukuk |
4. Saudi Aramco’s US$6 billion hybrid Sukuk |
5. Takaful Oman’s OMR6 million perpetual Sukuk |
For a detailed justification on each win, read the cover story here.