Masraf Al Rayan’s $750mn sukuk issuance generated overwhelming demand from global investors and was oversubscribed 4.4 times, the bank said on Saturday.
Masraf Al Rayan (MAR), Qatar’s second largest Islamic Bank, rated ‘A1’ by Moody's with a stable outlook, has announced the successful issuance of $750mn Sukuk with a term of five years under the bank’s existing $2bn sukuk programme.
MAR’s sukuk issuance was 4.4 times oversubscribed to the tune of nearly $3.3bn.
The overwhelming demand from investors has allowed the bank to increase the issue size from an initial $500mn to $750mn. The issuance was priced at a spread of 185 basis points over the five-year mid swap carrying a fixed profit rate of 2.21% per annum.
MAR’s sukuk issuance has attracted investors from across the globe with 41% from Europe, 28% from Asia, 24% from Mena and 7% from US offshore accounts.
By investor type, 69% were allocated to fund managers, 15% to banks and private banks, 8% to agencies and 8% to insurance and pension funds.
The success of the issuance was based on a comprehensive marketing strategy that aimed to demonstrate the strong fundamentals of MAR and the strength of the Qatari economy to the international investors.
Al Rayan Investment, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC, Mizuho, MUFG, QNB Capital, Société Générale and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners on this transaction.