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Norton Rose leads on landmark London sukuk

Author: Emma Sadowski

Published: 25/03/2008 10:43

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Norton Rose has advised on the first-ever listing of a sovereign sukuk bond on the London Stock Exchange.

The top 10 City firm advised the Kingdom of Bahrain, a longstanding Norton Rose client, on the issue of its £176.8m al-Ijara bond. The listing started trading on 20 March.

Senior debt capital markets lawyer Rizwan Kanji lead the transaction for Norton Rose from the firm’s Dubai office, with support from associate Lidia Kamleh.

Commenting on the deal, Kanji said: “The important element here is that this puts London as the centre in the west for Islamic finance. This Islamic listing is a huge vote of confidence in the present climate and perhaps sukuks are the way forward.”

The deal comes after the client listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in 2004.

The sukuk was issued through CBB International Sukuk Company, a special purpose vehicle established in Bahrain.

Lovells advised Calyon Credit Agricole as lead arranger on the latest deal, with Dubai-based Islamic finance partner Rahail Ali leading the team acting for the French bank.

Last November Ali – who joined Lovells from the local arm of rival City firm Denton Wilde Sapte earlier in the year – advised lead arrangers JP Morgan, Barclays Capital and Citi on a convertible sukuk for Dana Gas worth around $1bn (£490m).

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