Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised the State of Qatar (SoQ) on the US$4 billion two-part bond issuance by SoQ Sukuk A Q.S.C. The offering is the largest US dollar-denominated sukuk issuance to date and is comprised of a US$2 million tranche of trust certificates due 2018 and a further tranche of US$2 billion trust certificates due 2023. The sukuk issuance represents a record low profit rate of 2.1 percent for the 2018 certificates and 3.24 percent for the 2023 certificates.
Barwa Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and QInvest were mandated as Joint Lead Managers for the transaction, with NCB Capital Company, Masraf Al Rayan Q.S.C., Qatar International Islamic Bank (Q.S.C.) and Samba Financial Group being mandated as Co-Managers.
“This transaction shows the strength of investor confidence in the State of Qatar and represents a significant milestone in the development of the sukuk market,” said White & Case partner Shibeer Ahmed. “It also further showcases our extensive sovereign capital markets expertise as well our market leading Islamic finance capabilities.”
The White & Case team was led by Abu Dhabi based partners Shibeer Ahmed and Sean Johnson and assisted by partner Michiel Visser (Doha) and associates Catherine Wilson (Abu Dhabi), Nneka Wood (Abu Dhabi) and Alan MacRitchie (Doha).
White & Case has worked with more than 60 sovereign nations over the past 30 years. Early this month the Firm represented the Republic of Bulgaria on its €950 million bond issue and in November 2011 advised the State of Qatar on its US$5 billion sovereign bond issuance. Other emerging markets sovereigns on whose bond offerings the firm has acted include Belarus, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mongolia, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia and the Ukraine.
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