IslamicFinance.de

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development has mandated banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a planned U.S. dollar five-year sukuk offering. If the deal goes ahead, Dar Al Arkan will be the first Saudi company to issue an international bond this year. The banks mandated are Alkhair Capital, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, Goldman Sachs International, Nomura, Noor Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, who will act as joint bookrunners of the deal.

Demand for housing in Saudi Arabia is translating into a rush for some of the lowest-rated Islamic debt in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. Three sukuk from Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co are among the five best-performing Shariah-compliant bonds in the region this year. The company’s notes due May 2019 returned 8.2% through July 21, compared with an average 2.1% for the GCC sukuk market. The gains underscore efforts by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to stoke construction amid an estimated shortfall of 2mn homes. The securities have been helped by a clamour for high-yielding assets as the US Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.

Saudi Arabia's Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co raised $400 million through an Islamic bond, with strong demand for the paper helping to reduce the cost at which it borrowed. The developer attracted a final order book of more than $1 billion for its five year sukuk. Final pricing came at a profit rate of 6.5 percent. This was tighter than the 6.75 percent earmarked earlier on Wednesday and well inside the high-6s percent given as initial pricing thoughts on Tuesday. Alkhair Capital, Deutsche Bank , Emirates NBD and Goldman Sachs were coordinators and bookrunners of the deal. Abu Dhabi-based Al Hilal Bank, as well as Qatari trio Al Rayan Investment, Barwa Bank and QInvest were also bookrunners.