UAE's Majid Al Futtaim set to raise $600 mln in "green" sukuk

Majid Al Futtaim, a UAE-based developer and shopping mall operator, is set to raise $600 million in "green" sukuk, or Islamic bonds, documents by one of the banks leading the deal showed on Tuesday.

The proceeds of the sukuk will back environmentally-friendly projects in areas such as renewable energy and sustainable water management, according to the documents.

Green bonds are a growing category of fixed-income securities and green sukuk could widen the appeal of Islamic bonds beyond traditional markets in Asia and the Middle East to include ethical investors in Western countries.

Majid Al Futtaim started marketing the 10-year paper earlier on Tuesday at about 245 basis points over mid-swaps.

The price guidance for the deal - which has attracted around $3 billion in orders - subsequently went down to around 225-230 basis points over mid-swaps, and to a final spread of 220 basis points over the benchmark, according to the documents obtained by Reuters from a source requesting anonymity.

Originally, the company had been looking to raise between $500 million and $650 million, before it settled on $600 million, the documents showed.

HSBC and Standard Chartered have been hired as global coordinators for the planned deal. They are working as bookrunners along with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, ENBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Gulf International Bank.

Sukuk are investment certificates that comply with Islamic principles bypassing a religious prohibition on interest.

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