JAFZA eyes new sukuk to help repay old one

Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) has picked seven banks to arrange a new Islamic bond, lead managers said on Friday, with at least $500 million likely to be raised to part-repay the firm’s 2012 sukuk obligation. Along with a $1.25 billion sukuk issued by another state-owned entity, DIFC Investments, due in June, the JAFZA redemption was considered crucial to assess the ability of Dubai Inc firms to meet their debt maturities. JAFZA, fully-owned by the Dubai government, mandated Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Citigroup, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered to arrange a series of roadshows, a document from the lead banks said. The investor meetings will begin on June 5 in the United Arab Emirates and then take in Singapore and Hong Kong on June 7 and 8 respectively. Two days of roadshows will also be held in London June 11 and 12. A benchmark-sized sukuk will be issued subject to market conditions, the document added, with any issue to come from the JAFZ Sukuk (2019) special purpose vehicle -indicating a seven-year sukuk is being proposed. Benchmark-sized is understood as at least $500 million. The proceeds from the issue will be used to help refinance the 7.5 billion dirhams ($2.04 billion) sukuk which had been due to be repaid in November, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Bondholders voted last week to allow JAFZA to repay the deal early. Repayment of the sukuk will come through a mixture of a loan, a sukuk and internal cash. From / Gulf Today