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.”
