- ADIB's benchmark size of USD 500 million, which was more than 5 times oversubscribed, achieving the highest oversubscription rate for a senior Sukuk since 2020.
- Sukuk priced at a profit rate of 5.695 percent, representing a spread of 115bps over the five-year U.S. Treasury Rate.
- Successful issuance reaffirms strong local, regional and international investor confidence in ADIB's asset quality, capital position and financial performance.
- ADIB's first-ever green issuance is a key step to accelerate climate transition and contributes towards ADIB's sustainable finance commitment.
Abu Dhabi, UAE; 8 November 2023: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading financial institution, announced today that it has successfully raised USD 500 million via a green Sukuk offering, marking the world's first ever green USD sukuk issued by a financial institution. ADIB, which is rated A2 by Moody's and A+ by Fitch, in each case with a stable outlook, priced the five-year senior sukuk rated A+ by Fitch at a profit rate of 5.695 percent per annum payable semi-annually. The new Sukuk will be listed and traded on London Stock Exchange's International Securities Market and Sustainable Bond Market.
The issuance was met with exceptional demand, attracting interest from over 100 global and regional investors with the final orderbook closing at USD 2.6 billion, representing an oversubscription rate of 5.2 times. This has allowed the final price guidance to be tightened meaningfully by 30 basis points to 115 basis points over five year U.S. Treasury Rate, from initial price thoughts of 145 basis points.
ADIB intends to allocate an amount equal to the net proceeds of this issuance to fund eligible green projects to accelerate climate transition, which may include the financing or refinancing of green projects as well as financing customers for eligible green projects as described under the Eligibility Criteria in the ADIB sustainable finance Framework ( here).
Nasser Al Awadhi, ADIB Group Chief Executive Officer, said: " We are thrilled to be the first financial institution in the world to issue the first USD-denominated green Sukuk, which builds on ADIB's efforts to address climate change and to advance sustainable solutions that protect the environment and help facilitate a transition to a low-carbon economy. This is an important step in our sustainability journey and will further expand the bank's role in catalyzing capital to address the pressing environmental and social issues facing society today."
"We have received exceptional interest from a broad range of domestic, regional and international investors. Demand for this issuance exceeded the issue size by 5.2 times, highlighting the tremendous demand and confidence from global investors in ADIB's asset quality. We are also pleased to see this strong international demand continue as the pricing was tightened significantly. The overall success of this Sukuk can be attributed to ADIB's clear ESG framework and our strong track record of both growing market share and delivering sustainable returns." added Nasser Al Awadhi.
The issuance was driven by broad demand across three regions, with final allocations of 78% to MENA, 13% to Europe 9% to Asia and USA. By investor type, private banks 26%, Asset and Fund managers 17%, commercial banks 42% and others 16%.
ADIB mandated Standard Chartered Bank as Sole Global Coordinator and Sustainability Structurer along with ADIB, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners.
ADIB Sustainable Finance Framework
ADIB's inaugural green Sukuk issuance is part of its firmwide sustainability strategy and was issued in accordance with ADIB Sustainable finance Framework which establishes criteria and eligibility requirements that determine which projects are labelled “green", “social", or “sustainable". The framework determines eligibility of projects for the bank to finance or refinance, including the issuance of Green, Social and Sustainability Sukuks. ADIB received a Second Party Opinion from ISS Corporate Solutions (“ISS") for the framework, which ensured alignment of the framework with the ICMA Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles, Sustainability Bond Guidelines, as well as the Loan Market Association Gree Loan Principles and Social Loan Principles. Click here to know more about the framework.
ADIB ESG Strategy
ADIB issued its ESG strategy, which is seamlessly integrated into ADIB's sustainability framework, encompassing key pillars such as maximizing positive impact, becoming a lifelong partner of customers, fostering a strong economic footprint, maintaining a people-centric organizational culture, upholding governance excellence, and remaining a steadfast lifelong partner for communities.