The offering follows Al Hilal Bank's initial senior sukuk offering in October 2013 and has been structured to increase the probability of compliance with Basel III requirements.
The issuance was priced at par with a profit rate of 5.5%, which represents the lowest coupon ever achieved by any bank for a USD Tier 1 issuance outside of the US since 2008. Joint lead managers for the issue included Al Hilal Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Al Rayan Investment, Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Sharjah Islamic Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank. The issuance has a diverse geographical distribution, with the MENA region comprising 40%, Asia 31%, and Europe 29%.
Ahmed Ateeq Al Mazrouei, Chairman, Al Hilal Bank, said, "We are very pleased with the exceptional investor response to Al Hilal Bank's second issuance in the debt capital markets and first capital-eligible offering. The strong investor interest resulted in the transaction achieving a US$4.5 billion order book representing more than nine times the offered amount."
Al Hilal Bank manages the Al Hilal GCC Equity Fund and Al Hilal Global Sukuk Fund.