International law firm Simmons & Simmons has advised Emirates Strategic Investments Company (ESIC), an Abu Dhabi based investment holding company 100% owned by His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the establishment of a US $1bn sukuk issuance programme and its debut US $ 600m Sukuk thereunder. The Sukuk was listed on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market.
ESIC was the first corporate from Abu Dhabi to access the market in 2019, allowing it to capitalize on the overwhelming investor demand for Abu Dhabi credit, with investor demand for the Sukuk exceptionally strong, as evidenced by a US 3.7bn orderbook with the Sukuk being over six times oversubscribed.
Commenting on the transaction, Lee Irvine], Debt Capital Markets Partner, who led the team at Simmons & Simmons said: ‘‘We are delighted with the success of the debut offering by ESIC, which is a testament to the efforts of the entire working group and is expected to pave the way for other privately held entities from the UAE to access the international capital markets.’’
First Abu Dhabi Bank and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Bank ABC, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, National Bank of Bahrain, Standard Chartered Bank and Warba Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers.