Global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright has advised on the update and upsize of the Global Islamic Trust Certificate Programme by the Republic of Indonesia through Perusahaan Penerbit SBSN Indonesia III, a special purpose vehicle and the issuance of US$1.5 billion trust certificates under the programme, which is its second drawdown under the programme.
This is the third consecutive year in which Norton Rose Fulbright has been appointed to advise on the issuance of global sukuk issued by the Republic of Indonesia. The transaction was the largest sukuk offering to date by the Republic and was offered outside the US pursuant to Regulation S of the US Securities Act 1933 and to qualified institutional buyers in the United States pursuant to Rule 144A of the US Securities Act. The transaction was executed in line with the Republic of Indonesia’s funding roadmap for 2013 and its ongoing objective of promoting Islamic finance in Asia. The offering was oversubscribed with a large proportion of investors based in Europe and the United States.
The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by capital markets Of counsel Ferzana Haq (Singapore) assisted by associates Sarah Guo (Hong Kong), Kirsty McAllister-Jones (Singapore) and Cynthia SK Lee (Singapore). Partner Andrew Bleau (Hong Kong) advised on the US securities law aspects.
The Singapore and Hong Kong offices of Norton Rose Fulbright advised Deutsche AG, Singapore Branch, Citigroup Global Markets Inc and Standard Chartered Bank as the Joint Lead Managers on the programme and the issuance. The Sydney office advised The Bank of New York Mellon as the Trustee. The Singapore office also acted as the listing agent of the certificates on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Ferzana Haq commented:
“This is the latest debt securities offering from Republic of Indonesia and despite being launched in very difficult market conditions, the sukuk was heavily oversubscribed and was a very successful transaction for the Republic. We are delighted to have been selected to advise on this transaction for the third consecutive year; a testament to the growing strength and reputation of our capital markets practice.”
