- The bank is bucking the trend of Additional Tier 1 bond issued
- There have been relatively few senior bond sales from banks this year in the Middle East
Although there have been very few senior bond sales from banks in the Middle East, with the focus being mainly on Additional Tier 1 bond issues, Qatar’s Ahli Bank is bucking the trend with its plan to raise up to $500 million via issuance of five-year senior bonds.
Barclays and QNB Capital are global coordinators for the issue, while JPMorgan Securities, Mizuho Securities and Standard Chartered will act as joint bookrunners alongside them, the presentation showed. The planned debt sale follows a $1 billion senior Sukuk offering by Dubai Islamic Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ largest Islamic lender earlier this month.
There have been relatively few senior bond sales from banks in the region this year. Instead, there has been a steady stream of Additional Tier 1 bond issues as lenders look to boost their Tier 1 capital. The hydrocarbon-rich Gulf economies plunged into recession last year hit by a historic oil price collapse and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the region is expected to return to growth this year.