Emirates NBD readies Air Lease Corp’s $600m debut sukuk
DUBAI, March 21, 2023
Leading UAE bank Emirates NBD said it has successfully priced a five-year $600 million sukuk for Air Lease Corporation (ALC), thus marking the first Islamic bond issued by a US corporation.
One of the world's largest aircraft leasing companies, ALC has raised over $20 billion through the bond market. The company boasts a net book value of $24.
According to Emirates NBD, the strong demand for the sukuk saw orders of over $2.2 billion, allowing ALC to increase the offering to $600 million. The profit rate was tightened by 30 basis points to 5.85%, at a spread of 185 basis points over US treasuries due to the robust order book.
The sukuk structure adheres to the latest shari’ah standards, and the offering was anchored by Middle Eastern investors who received 80% of the allocation.
The sukuk was priced flat to its existing conventional curve, attracting high-quality institutional investors outside the US, and diversifying ALC's investor pool, it added.
ALC Executive VPt & Chief Financial Officer Greg Willis said: "As the first North American corporate sukuk offering, we are excited to demonstrate the depth and strength of liquidity in the Middle East market."
"The transaction is a testament to ALC’s broad access to capital, and we look forward to expanding our funding footprint in this region. The quality and breadth of demand for the transaction exceeded our expectations, and we are thankful to our banking partners, investors and advisors for their support in achieving this outcome," he noted.
Emirates NBD Capital CEO Mohammad Al Bastaki said: "We are proud to have supported the successful pricing of ALC’s inaugural sukuk, marking the first time a US-based corporation has issued a benchmark sukuk."
"The robust over-subscription and the participation of high-quality institutional investors from the Middle East will support ALC’s efforts to diversify its investor base and reflects the high demand for shari’ah-compliant issues outside the region. We expect this milestone issue will incentivise other non-regional issuers to consider sukuk issuances," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
