On the 18th of February 2010, Unicorn successfully closed a 5-year US$450 million Sukuk for Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company (Dar Al-Arkan), a leading residential real estate developer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Sukuk offers a yield of 11% and will be used to finance the company’s existing and future development projects.
The Sukuk marks the first international issue out of the GCC region in 2010 and was jointly lead managed by Unicorn, Deutsche Bank Securities and Goldman Sachs International, who were also the joint bookrunners. Unicorn was the Shari’ah advisor to the transaction.
The Sukuk attracted significant interest from investors in the GCC, Europe, Asia and the United States, with Dar Al-Arkan opting to close the issue at US$450 million. As the first 144a issue by a company in Saudi Arabia, the landmark Sukuk made it possible for US investors to directly participate in a Saudi Arabia issue for the first time.
Issuer: Dar Al-Arkan International Sukuk Company II (DAAR ISC II)
Amount: US$450,000,000
Maturity: 18 February, 2015
Coupon: 10.75%
Price: 99.058%
Yield: 11%
Ratings: Ba2 by Moody’s Investor Service; BB- by Standard & Poor’s