Saudi Arabia has raised $9bn from its debut international Islamic sukuk, the region’s largest ever, as part of the kingdom’s plans to continue tapping the international debt market to cover its budget deficit caused by the crash in oil prices since mid-2014.
The issue was almost four-times oversubscribed with orders in excess of $33bn, “reflecting the strong fundamentals of the Saudi economy,” the Saudi Ministry of Finance said in a 12 April statement. The $9bn raised, $1bn more than originally sought, consisted of two $4.5bn tranches, with the first maturing in 2022 and the second in 2027. The final spreads for the sukuk bond were 100 basis points over mid-swaps for the five-year notes, and 140 basis points over mid-swaps for the 10-year paper. Global coordinators for the sukuk were Citi, HSBC, and JP Morgan, while BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and NCB Capital were the joint lead managers and bookrunners. (CONTINUED - 818 WORDS)
