Arada wins ‘Best Real Estate Deal 2022’ at Global Islamic Finance Awards
News: 19 September 2022
Arada has been honoured with a major global award following the successful conclusion of its debut public financing deal, a $350 million sukuk.
The fast-growing UAE developer won the ‘Best Real Estate Deal 2022’ at the Global Islamic Finance Awards, which were held on 14 September at a major ceremony in Djibouti.
Other winners at the event, which was attended by Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti, included Pakistan’s Meezan Bank, Fitch Ratings, GFH Financial Group and the Indonesia Stock Exchange, as well as Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, who was presented with the Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award.
Ahmed Alkhoshaibi, Group CEO of Arada, said: “We’re delighted to have received this prestigious Global Islamic Finance Award, which recognises Arada’s landmark closure of our first ever public financing deal. The closure of our debut Sukuk on the London Stock Exchange is an exceptional endorsement from international institutional investors of both Arada’s track record and its future prospects.
“We’re pleased that this issuance has appealed to the market appetite for stable companies with a good history of strong management, transparency and good governance, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all partners and colleagues who have worked so hard to achieve such an outstanding result.”
Arada’s public financing deal was the first US dollar corporate sukuk globally in 2022, and the company also became Sharjah’s first corporate issuer for five years and the first real estate issuer from the region in 2022.
The Joint Global Coordinators for the Sukuk were Standard Chartered Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD Capital, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ajman Bank, Al Rajhi Capital, Mashreq, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Kamco Invest and Warba Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners.
The Global Islamic Finance Awards were founded in 2011 to recognise and celebrate achievements of individuals, institutions and governments in promoting and advocating Islamic banking and finance. Previous individual winners have included Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and Nursultan Nazarbayev, former President of Kazakhstan.
