Abyaar to launch $1bn sukuk before year-end

Kuwait-based Abyaar Real Estate Development is to launch a $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) sukuk issue before year-end to finance its projects and will dual list its share on the Dubai Financial Market in the third quarter, a top company official said.

“We will be launching our sukuk before the end of this year,” Marzooq Al Rashdan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Abyaar told Emirates Business. He did not give details of pricing, or a time frame.

Islamic finance has continued to show phenomenal growth with the global volume of sukuk issued rising by 73 per cent to $47.1bn (Dh173bn) during 2007 despite a slowdown in all other sectors.

The number of issues rose to 53 from 38 in the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, with most  growth coming from the UAE, said a report by London’s Islamic Finance Information Service.

On Monday, Aldar Properties raised Dh2.2bn through an ijara facility from a group of UAE banks, while Reuters reported in March that Sorouh Real Estate was  planning to sell $1bn of Shariah-compliant asset backed securities to help fund expansion.
 
“We believe that listing on DFM is very important for us as all our projects are in Dubai,” said Al Rashdan. It has appointed NBD Investment Bank as financial advisor and placement agent.

Abyaar announced a profit of Dh226 million for year 2007, which is a 40 per cent increase on 2006. It is set to increase its current investment portfolio of Dh25bn in Dubai to cover the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

In January, the company entered a joint venture with Tecom Investments, a member of Dubai Holding, to invest Dh10bn to develop mixed-use projects at the International Media Production Zone (IMPZ) and Tecom Site-A.

“Abyaar will study the master plan and redesign certain aspects of the project to include both residential and retail areas in IMPZ, while the project in Tecom Site-A will comprise a 70-storey tower,” Al Rashdan said.

The joint venture will develop a built-up area of five million square feet at IMPZ, of which three million will be dedicated for residential developments and the remaining two million for retail and commercial. The tower at Tecom Site-A will cover one million sq ft.