Bahrain's Oil & Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) has announced that it has successfully priced $750 million international trust certificates with a maturity date of May 25 and a profit rate of 6.625%.

 

This transaction marks nogaholding’s successful return to the international capital markets. 

 

The new 10-year senior unsecured Sukuk Al Ijara/Murabaha is rated B+ by top ratings agency Fitch and has priced at a spread of 306.1bps over US Treasuries, said the statement from nogaholding. 

 

The trust certificates will be issued under nogaholding Sukuk Limited’s $3 billion trust certificate issuance programme.

 

The Bahraini energy major said it also announced a tender offer for cash on its outstanding $750 million notes maturing in 2024, which is intended to proactively manage its balance sheet and maturity profiles, starting with the 2024 maturity.

 

nogaholding received strong interest from regional and international investors, across Bahrain and the other Gulf countries, as well as Europe and Asia. 

 

The sukuk was more than five times oversubscribed, with participation from investors demonstrating sustained, strong and valued support to nogaholding and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

 

Arab Banking Corporation, Citigroup Global Markets, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC Bank, JP Morgan Securities and National Bank of Bahrain acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners with respect to the issuance. Lazard acted as the sole financial advisor.

 

On the new issue, Group CEO Mark Thomas said: "We are very proud of and welcome the support of the international investors to our continued efforts to support Bahrain’s energy strategy. We value the confidence of our investors, highlighting our strong credit and transition into an integrated energy company."

 

"The new issue will contribute to nogaholding’s strategy of proactively managing its debt profile moving forward, in line with its capital structure and corporate strategy," he stated.

 

The issuance of the trust certificates is expected to close and the trust certificates are expected to be issued on or May 25, subject to customary closing conditions, he added.-TradeArabia News Service