Dubai's Emaar expected to raise $500 million via Islamic bonds

DUBAI: Emaar Properties, Dubai's largest listed property developer, is expected to raise up to $500 million through a sale of 10-year sukuk, or Islamic bonds, a document showed on Tuesday.

Emaar gave initial price guidance of around 4.25% for the sukuk, the document from one of the banks on the deal showed.

The issuance size will not be greater than $500 million, the document said.

Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital , First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreqbank and Standard Chartered are arranging the deal, which is expected to close later on Tuesday.

Reuters reported early this month that Emaar hired banks to arrange a dollar sukuk sale.

The builder of the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, last issued international bonds in 2019, raising $500 million via sukuk.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Emaar to a BB+ "junk" rating last July as the real estate and retail sectors were slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions.

Emaar, which is 29.22% owned by state fund Investment Corporation of Dubai, last month reported an 8% rise in first-quarter net profit to 657 million dirhams ($178.88 million), which founder Mohamed Alabbar said was "comparable" with pre-pandemic results in 2019.

The company and its subsidiaries have outstanding debt of about $816 million, Refinitiv data shows.