• Home
• /
• Markets

MAF picks banks for a potential dollar sukuk

Dubai - The firm, which owns and operates the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, is planning to issue the sukuk before end of the year

By Reuters

• Follow us on
• 
• 
• 

Published: Fri 23 Oct 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Fri 23 Oct 2015, 10:18 AM

Dubai-based retail and leisure developer Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) has picked banks to arrange a potential dollar-denominated sukuk, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The firm, which owns and operates the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, is planning to issue the sukuk before end of the year, one of the sources said on condition of anonymity as the deal is private.
MAF has picked banks including Standard Chartered, HSBC, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to arrange the sukuk issue, the sources said, adding that more banks may be added to the list of arrangers.
The issue will be of benchmark size, the sources said. Benchmark size is traditionally understood to mean upwards of $500 million.
The sukuk will be issued under its $1.5 billion issuance programme through an entity named MAF Sukuk Ltd, based in the Cayman Islands.
In the first half of the year, MAF earned 52 per cent of its group's revenue and 69 per cent of its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) from its operations in the UAE, it said in an updated prospectus for the sukuk offering released in October.
As at June 2015, the Group had short-term borrowings of Dh175 million, with around 30 per cent of its existing long-term borrowings due to be repaid within one year, according to the document. - Reuters