GFH’s $500 Million Five-Year Sukuk Oversubscribed

The Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group on Thursday announced the successful pricing of a $500 million 5-year sukuk, the second one in the last 24 hours, marking the extension of its international sukuk programme.

The final order book of GFH Financial Group closed at more than $2 billion, representing an oversubscription of more than 4x. This transaction was priced at 240bps tighter than GFH’s previous issuance in 2020 (relative to the US Treasury benchmark).

The issuance was met with strong demand from international investors who were allocated more than 50% of the issuance with the remaining allocated to regional and local investors, according to a GFH disclosure filed with Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) this morning.

Included among the investors were a diverse mix comprising fund managers, private banks and financial institutions. The proceeds of the sukuk will be used to enhance the financial position of the Group and to fund its ongoing growth and diversification in line with its strategy.

GFH Group CEO Hisham Alrayes said that they were delighted to mark another successful issuance further expanding GFH’s presence in the international debt capital markets and diversifying their global investor base.

Strong demand for the issuance from a diverse group of international and regional institutional investors underscores the strength of our franchise and the reputation that GFH has built.

“It is also testament to the confidence we enjoy in our strategy, robust business model, and prospects as we expand our investments and global presence across priority sectors and markets including the GCC, the US and Europe. We look forward to another chapter of growth where we will continue to build and deliver even greater value for our investors and shareholders,” he added.

J P Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, Kamco Invest, Mashreq, Warba Bank, Al Rajhi Capital, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Bank ABC acted as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Book-runners.

GFH has more than $21 billion of assets and assets under management including a global portfolio of investments in logistics, healthcare, education and technology in the MENA region, Europe and North America.

The Group’s shares are among the most actively traded on four regional exchanges including the ADX, Bahrain Bourse, Boursa Kuwait, and Dubai Financial Market.

Dubai Islamic Bank’s Sukuk

Dubai Islamic Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the UAE, listed $500 million sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai on Wednesday.

The additional Tier 1 (AT1) Sukuk was issued at a profit rate of 5.25% per annum and received strong investor demand, resulting in substantial oversubscription. This strategic issuance reinforces DIB’s leadership in the global Islamic finance sector, providing additional capital to support its growth strategy.

With this listing, Nasdaq Dubai further cemented its position as a leading global hub for Sukuk, with total outstanding sukuk now reaching $93 billion across 102 listings and a combined $133 billion in capital market listings.