Instrument | Straight Sukuk Mudarabah |
Issuer | Dubai Sukuk Center |
Obligor | DIFC Investments
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Principal activities | The Dubai Sukuk Center is a wholly owned subsidiary of DIFC Investments. DIFC Investments has been mandated to conduct all non-public administration activities previously carried out by the DIFC Authority. This includes all commercial and other activities such as the operation and management of any current and future subsidiaries, the development of the center’s investment strategy and relevant policies and any other strategic investments or alliances in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)’s interest.
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Board of directors | Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (president) and Dr Omar bin Sulaiman (governor). |
Date of listing | 18th June 2007
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Issue size | US$1.25 billion |
Date of issue | 7th June 2007
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Maturity |
Five years (13th June 2012)
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Payment schedule | Profit rate at three-month US$ LIBOR + 0.375%, quarterly payments, under Act/360, with a re-offer spread of three-month US$ LIBOR + 0.42, and re-offer price of 99.803%.
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Lead arrangers/bookrunners |
Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs |
Arrangers/managers | CIMB, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, Mashreq and the National Bank of Dubai. |
Listing | Listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), under the law of the DIFC. |
Financial advisor | Rothschild |
Legal advisors |
Linklaters (to the issuer), Allen & Overy (to the lead managers). |
Status of issue | The Sukuk is the largest rated and the largest straight Sukuk to originate from the region, with its initial price guidance released on the 4th June at low to mid-40s over LIBOR, with an indicative benchmark size. A total of US$1 billion orders were confirmed on the first day. On the third day, the 6th June, the Sukuk’s order book had already exceeded US$2 billion. The Sukuk was finally launched and priced as a US$1.25 billion issue with a profit rate of US$ LIBOR + 37.5 bps.
The five-year Sukuk is the first to be entirely documented under DIFC law, and attracted 67% in international subscriptions. Of the US$1.25 billion, 20% comes from Asian investors, 47% from European investors and 33% from investors in the Middle East. The total breakdown was 54% to banks, 35% to fund managers, 7% to Central Banks and government agencies and 4% to insurance and pension funds.
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Ratings | The Sukuk is rated A1 by Moody’s and A+ by Standard & Poor’s. |