Qatar Islamic Bank closes $137m sukuk

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has closed a $137m sukuk for Salam Bounian Development Company to finance the construction of The Gate project in the West Bay area of Doha. This is the first entirely Qatari-led sukuk issue.
QIB arranged the sukuk with the Islamic banking divisions of Qatar National Bank and Commercial Bank of Qatar acting as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. Jean-Marc Riegel, general manager of investment banking and development group at QIB, says: "This marks the first time ever that a Sukuk issue was managed completely by Qatari banks, without the involvement of any foreign institutions."

He adds: Now that the Qatari Riyal can be cleared through [transaction settlement systems] Clear Stream and Euroclear, we are optimistic that we will be issuing the next Sukuk in Qatari Riyals."

The Gate is a mixed use real estate project being developed by Salam Bounia