Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on National Bank of Oman's first public Tier 1 US$300 million capital issue

Clifford Chance has advised on the issuance of US$300 million perpetual Tier 1 capital securities by National Bank of Oman. National Bank of Oman is the sultanate's third-largest bank by assets.

This issuance marks the first public Tier 1 capital issue for the bank and the second Tier 1 capital security issued this year in the Sultanate of Oman.

The issuance completed on 19 November 2015 and the capital securities were admitted to trading on the Irish Stock Exchange. The issuance of the Tier 1 capital was approved by the Central Bank of Oman.

Stuart Ure, partner at Clifford Chance, commented: "This is a very significant regulatory capital transaction in the region under the Central Bank of Oman's Basel III guidelines. We are delighted to have once more partnered with National Bank of Oman and its advisers on this strategic transaction."

Clifford Chance, through its UAE offices, advised the joint lead managers on the issuance. The Clifford Chance team was led by Stuart Ure, who was assisted by senior associates Rafé Khokhar and Mark Dickinson.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank were the global co-coordinators and joint lead managers for the issuance while Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Crédit Agricole CIB and National Bank of Oman acted as joint lead managers with First Gulf Bank as co-lead manager.

In 2015, Clifford Chance celebrates 40 years of operations in the Middle East since opening its first office in Sharjah in 1975. Over the past four decades the Firm has expanded from a single office to having a strong presence in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Riyadh with more than 120 permanently based lawyers in the region who are fully integrated into the Firm’s international network of 35 offices in 25 countries.