Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on US$500 million issuance by Majid Al Futtaim

Clifford Chance has advised on the issuance of US$500 million 4.5% trust certificates due 2025 by MAF Sukuk Ltd. and guaranteed by Majid Al Futtaim Holding LLC. Majid Al Futtaim is a leading shopping mall, retail and leisure company across the MENA region.

The issuance completed on 3 November 2015 and the certificates were admitted to trading on the Irish Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai. The certificates were issued under Majid Al Futtaim's US$1.5 billion trust certificate issuance programme which was updated on 8 October 2015 to accommodate a hybrid structure of wakala and murabaha.

This issuance marks the second sukuk issuance by Majid Al Futtaim and its longest dated tenor sukuk. This is also the first sukuk issuance this year by a privately owned MENA corporate as well as the first real estate capital markets transaction this year (being the first public UAE issuance since June 2015).

Stuart Ure, partner at Clifford Chance, commented: "We are delighted to have been involved in this highly successful transaction which once again demonstrated the strong investor demand and international perception of Majid Al Futtaim credit – this in turn led to this issuance having a high quality order book of US$1.6 billion and the highest oversubscription rate for a MENA corporate sukuk this year".

Clifford Chance, through its UAE offices, advised the joint lead managers on the issuance, as well as the arrangers and dealers on the update of the programme. The Clifford Chance team was led by Stuart Ure, who was assisted by senior associate Shauaib Mirza and associate Alekhya Prakash.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank were the joint lead managers and bookrunners for the issuance while First Gulf Bank and Union National Bank were co-managers.

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.