Dubai’s Emirates NBD arranges Egypt’s $1.5bn debut sukuk

Dubai’s Emirates NBD arranges Egypt’s $1.5bn debut sukuk

Dubai’s Emirates NBD has successfully priced Egypt’s $1.5bn debut sukuk, which was oversubscribed four times, with the order book fetching more than $6bn. The three-year sukuk, which was issued by the finance ministry through the Egyptian Financial Company for Sovereign Taskeek, received strong demand from a regional Shari’ah-compliant investor base, with 59 per cent allocation to the MENA region. Emirates NBD said the Islamic bonds also received significant appetite from global emerging market investors leading to a 62.5 basis points compression from the initial guidance of around 11.625 per cent target to the final reoffer yield of 11 per cent. Emirates NBD jointly managed the transaction with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Citi, Credit Agricole, First Abu Dhabi Bank and HSBC, underscoring its commitment to supporting Egypt’s efforts to diversify its sources of funding. Emirates NBD led two syndicated financing transactions for Egypt in the past, a $2bn financing facility in July 2020 and another $3bn in November 2021—the country’s largest global syndicated term loan facility to date. “The well-received sukuk represents the third financing transaction we have conducted for the Government of Egypt, a strong vote of confidence in the Group’s ability to meet the needs of our clients through