Damac Hires Barclays, HSBC For Possible Sukuk

Dubai: Damac Properties hired banks including Barclays Plc and HSBC Bank Plc for a possible sale of US dollar-denominated Islamic bonds, according to people familiar with the matter.

The second-largest listed real estate developer in Dubai is expected to hire more banks to arrange the debt sale, which may happen as soon as this month, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. A spokesman at Damac declined to comment.

The developer, which has two golf-course development deals with US President Donald Trump’s family company, in February reported full-year net income that missed the lowest analyst estimate.

Hussain Sajwani, who owns 72 per cent of Damac, said in January that he was open to selling as much as 15 per cent of his majority stake in the company.

Damac is the latest company in the Middle East looking to tap the bond market amid a busy start to a year for debt sales.

Besides sovereigns like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Oman Telecommunications Co. and Noor Bank PJSC are among those waiting to access capital in the next few weeks, people familiar with the matter have said.

Issuance from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council climbed to $22.8 billion so far this year, the second-best first quarter in at least 12 years, Bloomberg data show.

A senior official at Damac in February said that the company was also considering repaying part of its Dh450 million ($123 million) debt ahead of time to avoid a “lumpy” maturity in 2019. Damac last raised $500 million via sukuk at 6.25 per cent in April.

The debt sale was arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC and VTB Capital.