One transaction alone cemented Al Rajhi Bank’s claim to be the best sukuk house this year. On March 29, 2023, the world’s biggest Islamic bank by assets and market capitalization closed its first US dollar sustainable sukuk.
The bank spent the months before priming a jittery market for the inaugural $1 billion five-year deal. The first issuance in the international dollar capital markets seemed an obvious progression after two highly successful local issues in 2022.
That Al Rajhi closed the deal amid the global disruption that gripped the banking market in March cemented its position as the premier global Islamic financial institution. Even more impressive was how the team led by Al Rajhi Capital chief executive Waleed AlRashed AlHumaid harnessed the bank’s extensive investor network to pull demand from regional and international accounts.
The order book topped $3.75 billion, signalling that there is strong global demand for these products and that Al Rajhi is well placed to harness it.
Al Rajhi managed to tighten pricing from an initially targeted spread over US Treasuries of 150 basis points to 110bp.