DP World Raises $1.2 Billion From Sukuk to Fund Bond Buyback

DP World Ltd., the Dubai-owned company that operates ports from China to South America, raised $1.2 billion from the sale of Islamic bonds and said a tender offer to buy back securities received 48 percent more bids than the target. The company sold a seven-year sukuk that will be priced to yield 237.5 basis points, or 2.375 percentage points, over the benchmark midswap rate, according to two people familiar with the deal, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public yet.


The issue received more than $2.5 billion in bids, they said. Money raised from the sale was meant to fund an offer to buy up to $750 million of DP World’s existing 2017 sukuk and for general corporate purposes, the company said earlier this month. The tender offer received $1.113 billion of valid certificates at its close on May 23 and DP World said it may buy all of them if it raises enough cash from the issue.

 The offer for the 2017 securities was to pay $10,555 for every $10,000 of principal. Bond sales from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes the two biggest Arab economies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are accelerating as governments and companies seek funds following oil’s decline in the past two years. Offerings from the region have risen 28 percent to $16.7 billion, while Qatar’s government, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways PJSC and its partners also plan to sell bonds this week. Dubai-based Noor Bank PJSC also raised $500 million from a perpetual sukuk today.

Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, HSBC Holdings Plc, Barclays Plc, Emirates NBD Capital PJSC, First Gulf Bank PJSC, JPMorgan Chase & Co., National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Societe Generale SA are helping arrange DP World’s issue. Noor Bank, Samba Financial Group and Union National Bank PJSC have also been appointed co-arrangers.