Saudi Arabia raises $5.5B from global sukuk issuance

The National Debt Management Center (NDMC) completed the issuance of an international Sukuk in USD under the Kingdom's Global Trust Certificate Issuance Program (KSA Ijarah Sukuk).

A total of $5.5 billion (SAR 20.63 billion) was raised through the country’s first international issuance based on an Ijarah structure.

KSA Ijara Sukuk was divided into two tranches. The value of the first tranche was $2.25 billion (SAR 8.44 billion) for a 5-year Sukuk maturing in 2030. The second tranche totaled $3.25 billion (SAR 12.19 billion) for a 10-year Sukuk maturing in 2035, the NDMC said in a statement.

The order book reached around $19 billion, resulting in an oversubscription by 3.5 times.

The transaction is part of NDMC's strategy to diversify the investors' base to meet the Kingdom's financing needs from international debt capital markets efficiently and effectively. The level of investor demand for the Kingdom's issuances reflects their confidence in the strength of the country’s economy and the outlook for future investment opportunities.

A number of local and international banks and financial institutions contributed to this issuance. Citigroup, HSBC, JP Morgan, and Standard Chartered acted as joint global coordinators and active bookrunners on this transaction.

ICBC and Mizuho were active joint lead managers, while Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and AL Jazira Capital acted as passive joint lead managers.