ADIB successfully issues $500 million green sukuk

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading financial institution, announced on Wednesday that it has successfully raised $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 $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 US Treasury Rate.

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’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 Green Loan Principles and Social Loan Principles. Click here to know more about the framework.

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.

ADIB is a leading bank in the UAE with more than AED 184 billion in assets. The bank also offers world-class online, mobile and phone banking services, providing clients with seamless digital access to their accounts 24 hours a day. ADIB provides Retail, Corporate, Business, Private Banking and Wealth Management Solutions. The bank was established in 1997 and its shares are traded on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

ADIB has a strong presence in six strategic markets: Egypt, where it has 70 branches, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Sudan, Qatar, and Iraq.