• The transaction marks the first sukuk issued by a US corporation    

Dubai:  Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region, has successfully priced a USD 600 million Sukuk for Air Lease Corporation (ALC), marking the first Sukuk issued by a US corporation.

The five-year Sukuk witnessed robust demand, attracting orders of over USD 2.2 billion, which led ALC to increase the offering to USD 600 million. The strong order book allowed ALC to tighten the profit rate by 30 basis points to 5.85%, at a spread of 185 basis points over US treasuries. The structure of the Sukuk was in line with the latest Shari’ah standards and the issue was anchored by Middle Eastern investors, who accounted for 80% of the allocation. The Sukuk, priced flat to its existing conventional curve, attracted many high-quality institutional investors outside the US, assisting ALC to diversify its existing investor pool.

ALC is consistently ranked as one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing firms and has raised over USD 20 billion through the bond market. The corporation has 417 aircraft in its fleet and a net book value of USD 24.5 billion.

Greg Willis, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Air Lease Corporation said: “ALC is proud to have partnered with Emirates NBD on this landmark transaction. As the first North American corporate Sukuk offering, we are excited to demonstrate the depth and strength of liquidity in the Middle East market. The transaction is a testament to ALC’s broad access to capital and we look forward to expanding our funding footprint in this region. The quality and breadth of demand for the transaction exceeded our expectations and we are thankful to our banking partners, investors and advisors for their support in achieving this outcome.”

Mohammad Al Bastaki, CEO of Emirates NBD Capital, said: “We are proud to have supported the successful pricing of ALC’s inaugural sukuk, marking the first time a US-based corporation has issued a benchmark sukuk. The robust oversubscription and the participation of high-quality institutional investors from the Middle East will support ALC’s efforts to diversify its investor base and reflects the high demand for Shari’ah-compliant issues outside of the region. We expect this milestone issue will incentivize other non-regional issuers to consider sukuk issuances.”

-Ends-

About Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey) region with a presence in 13 countries, serving over 17 million customers. As at 31st December 2022, total assets were AED 742 billion, (equivalent to approx. USD 202 billion). The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Turkey, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 879 branches and 4,130 ATMs / SDMs. Emirates NBD is the leading financial services brand in the UAE with a Brand value of USD 3.6 billion. 

Emirates NBD Group serves its customers (individuals, businesses, governments, and institutions) and helps them realise their financial objectives through a range of banking products and services including retail banking, corporate and institutional banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management, global markets and treasury, and brokerage operations. The Group is a key participant in the global digital banking industry with 97% of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The Group also operates Liv., the lifestyle digital bank by Emirates NBD, with close to half a million users, it continues to be the fastest-growing bank in the region.

Emirates NBD contributes to the construction of a sustainable future as an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development and sustainability initiatives, including financial wellness and the inclusion of people of determination. Emirates NBD is also an early supporter to Dubai Can sustainability initiative, a city-wide initiative aimed to reduce use of single-use plastic bottled water.

For further information on Emirates NBD, please contact:
Ibrahim Sowaidan
Senior Vice President
Head - Group Corporate Affairs
Emirates NBD
e-mail: ibrahims@emiratesnbd.com
Mahmoud Kassem
Associate
Brunswick Group
e-mail: mkassem@brunswickgroup.com