Latham & Watkins represented the joint lead managers in the State of Qatar’s recent sovereign Sukuk. The US$4 billion offering, which was more than six times oversubscribed, included a record low profit rate of 2.1% for a five-year tranche and 3.24% for a 10-year tranche. The sale is also the largest US dollar-denominated Sukuk issuance to date.
Craig Nethercott, partner and global Co-Chair of Latham’s Islamic Finance Practice Group, commented: “This is a significant development in the sovereign debt market. The structure for this transaction has established a solid platform for future Shari’ah compliant debt issuances of significant scale by the State of Qatar.”
Corporate counsel Dipti Thakar who co-lead the deal team added: “The success of this transaction and the level of investor appetite demonstrates the ever increasing attraction of Shari’ah compliant products from strong issuers in the Middle East.”
Barwa Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and QInvest were mandated joint lead managers for the transaction. Co-managers on the transaction included Masraf Al Rayan, NCB Capital Company, Qatar International Islamic Bank and Samba Financial Group.
The Latham & Watkins team was led by partners Bryant Edwards and Craig Nethercott, counsel Dipti Thakar and associate Imran Sharih in Dubai, associate Mohsin Iqbal in Doha and associate Mahmoud Abdel-Baky in Riyadh.
Ahmad Anani, senior counsel in Latham’s Doha office, acted as joint local counsel to the managers and the State of Qatar. Partner Lene Malthasen and associate Lisa Dean from Latham’s London office acted as counsel to the delegate.
Latham’s involvement on this landmark transaction showcases the strength and depth of the firm’s Middle East capabilities as well as its Islamic finance and global capital markets practice.
