Clifford Chance advised DIFC Investments LLC (DIFCI) in securing a USD 1.035 billion Islamic syndicated facility to contribute towards financing in full the repayment of its USD 1.25 billion Sukuk maturing 13th June 2012. This is a landmark transaction in the history of the DIFC which further evidences the commitment of Dubai to meet its obligations in a timely manner.
The transaction is a dual tranche Islamic facility and includes both Commodity Murabaha and Ijarah tranches. The Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners of the USD 1.035 billion dual tranche five - year Islamic Facility are Emirates NBD, Standard Chartered Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Noor Islamic Bank. The facility is priced at 380 bps over EIBOR/Libor and is principally secured on DIFCI's Grade A property portfolio, which is regarded as the region's premier financial district.
The Clifford Chance team was led by Partner and Global Head of Islamic Finance, Qudeer Latif, and included Salman Ahmed (Associate), Shakeel Adli (Associate), Elias Moubarak (Associate) and Intissar Kherigi (Trainee) for the financing related matters, Nigel Wellings (Partner) and Roxana Ghiassee (Associate) in relation to the corporate and assets disposals and Tariq Imam (Associate) for real estate matters.
Clifford Chance lead partner on this transaction Qudeer Latif comments "Clifford Chance is proud to have advised DIFCI on this landmark financing. Our market leading global Islamic Finance practice continues to deliver innovative solutions for our clients and we are seeing a growing use of Islamic financing products as a viable source of funding for our client's activities."
Clifford Chance is one of the world's leading law firms, helping clients achieve their goals by combining the highest global standards with local expertise. The Firm has unrivalled scale and depth of legal resources across the five key markets of Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, and focuses on the core areas of commercial activity: capital markets; corporate and M&A; finance and banking; real estate; tax; pensions and employment; litigation and dispute resolution. Clifford Chance has 34 offices in 24 countries with some 3,200 legal advisers. The Firm also operates a co-operation agreement with Al-Jadaan & Partners Law Firm in Saudi Arabia.
Clifford Chance's Islamic finance team has lawyers based in, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris with extensive expertise and experience in both Islamic finance and conventional finance. The team are at the forefront of innovation as Islamic financing techniques and products evolve and were ranked 'tier one' in the Chambers Global 2012 Directory. This independent analysis focuses on firms' legal ability, professional conduct, client service, and commercial awareness, and these rankings provide outstanding recognition for the Firm's breadth of expertise and consistency of quality across global markets.
For further information about Clifford Chance see www.cliffordchance.com
For further information about this release contact Rebecca Settle on +971 (0)4 362 0717.
Rebecca Settle
Business Development Manager (Middle East)
Clifford Chance LLP
Building 6, Level 2
The Gate Precinct
Dubai International Financial Centre
PO Box 9380
Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Direct Line: +971 4 362 0717
Switchboard: +971 4 362 0444
Mobile: +971 50 659 6926
rebecca.settle@cliffordchance.com
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© Press Release 2012
