Sharjah’s Arada raises $50m from second tap of existing $450m sukuk

14/02/2023

Sharjah-based real estate developer Arada has successfully completed the second tap of its $450m sukuk, which was issued in June 2022 and listed on the London Stock Exchange. The second tap raised $50m, bringing the total size of the sukuk to $500m.

This is the developer’s third foray into the capital markets in the last nine months and the investor reoffer yield was 8.488 per cent.

In October 2022, Arada raised $100m in a first tap which received an overwhelming response from the international debt capital market, resulting in an oversubscribed transaction with orders worth $185m.

Ahmed Alkhoshaibi, group CEO of Arada, expressed his satisfaction with the outcome, saying, “We are thrilled to have raised $500m through the two tap transactions on our inaugural sukuk. This demonstrates that investors have been following our story since May 2022 and recognise our investor proposition, good governance record, and credit strength.”

The five-year fixed rate RegS debut sukuk was rated BB- by Fitch and B1 by Moody’s and the proceeds from the sukuk will be used for general corporate purposes and to support Arada’s ongoing projects.

In May 2022, Moody’s and Fitch assigned the developer its first-ever credit ratings, B1 and B+ respectively, both with a stable outlook.