IslamicFinance.de

SGI-Mitabu, a venture between The Solar Guys International and Mitabu Australia will finance its entire Indonesian solar power project using sharia-compliant financing. The first 50 megawatt (MW) of the 250 MW solar power project will be financed through the issuance of a seven-year A$100 million ($104 million) sukuk in Labuan, Malaysia's offshore financial centre. This will be followed by two more tranches which will be structured as either sukuk or Islamic syndicated loans.

The marketing campaign of solar panel and heating installer The Solar Guys' first sukuk has been going on for a while. The Islamic bond, due in the first half of 2013, serves to fund a 250MW solar power plant in Indonesia. The Solar Guys and Mitabu have formed a joint venture called SGI-Mitabu. The joint venture aims to raise $500 million to build and finance the power plant.

The SGI-Mitabu launched the first ever Aussie sukuk in the Malaisian offshore tax haven Labuan, thus avoiding Australian rules that penalize Sukuk. The offshore paradise Labuan which has established a global financial hub in 1990 is located on the coast of eastern Sabah state on Borneo Island (Malaysia).