Latham, Skadden and Hogan Lovells advise on $3.5bn Qatar development finance deal

Latham & Watkins, Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom and Hogan Lovells have taken roles relating to Qatari Diar Finance's $3.5bn (£2.2bn) bond offering, as part of Qatar's plan to target international finance to fund domestic development.

Latham represented Qatari Diar Finance, a subsidiary of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the emirate's sovereign wealth fund. The team was led by finance partner Bill Voge alongside Doha-based corporate counsel Craig Stoehr.

Skadden corporate partner Harold Moore advised the group of underwriting banks on the issuance, which included Barclays, HSBC, Qatar National Bank, Standard Chartered and RBS.

Qatari Diar will use the proceeds of the bond issue to channel funds to development company Barwa City Real Estate, in which it holds a 45% stake.

The financing for Barwa will be structured in two so-called ‘murabaha' contracts. which will be used to finance a number of real estate projects.

Hogan Lovells advised Barwa on the arrangement, fielding a team led by global head of Islamic finance Rahail Ali, assisted by senior associate Daniel Rankin and associate Faraz Naqvi.

Ali commented: "We are very pleased to continue to build on our close relationship with Barwa. Barwa has a great reputation and this is clearly testified to by the size of this transaction."

The first murabaha contract will provide $1bn (£641m) maturing in July 2015, with the remaining $2.5bn (£1.6m) due in July 2020.

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