The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) could issue its first sukuk later this year as part of its newly established $3bn Sukuk programme.
The programme provisionally rated Aa3 by Moody’s is aimed at supporting the efforts to deepen the international Sukuk markets by offering Shari’ah compliant investors’ access to high-quality Sovereigns, Supra nationals & Agencies (SSA) assets, APICORP said.
It also added that the move marks a significant step in its plans to become a regular issuer of sukuk in global markets and position its credit alongside its multilateral development banks peers.
Standard Chartered Bank is acting as sole arranger for the Sukuk programme, which will be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.
APICORP’s Chairman, HE. Dr. Aabed A. Al-Saadoun said, “We are delighted to have established this Sukuk Programme which, in line with the recently approved corporate strategy, will allow APICORP to diversify its funding sources, reduce the overall cost of financing, extend the Company’s debt maturity profile and enhance our access to a diverse set of global investors.”
APICORP is a multilateral development bank based in Saudi Arabia and created and owned by the governments of the ten member states of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).
