Shariah-compliant investment bank Gatehouse Bank has issued a duo of sukuk financial certificates secured by the regional British Telecom headquarters in Leeds.
Shariah-compliant investment bank Gatehouse Bank has issued a duo of sukuk financial certificates secured by the regional British Telecom headquarters in Leeds.
The certificates are expected to generate a 4.25% and 6.25% return per annum over a seven-year term.
Under the sukuk structure, investors earn a return by virtue of the profit earned through the rent agreement of the building. Both sukuk certificates were arranged following a refinancing of the 12,440 m2 headquarters building let to British Telecommunications until September 2020.
The operation follows the success of the bank’s first sukuk issue in December 2012. 'Gatehouse Bank is positioned to expand the sukuk offering of the business in line with an increase in demand,' said Abdulaziz AlDuweesh, chief investment officer at Gatehouse Bank. 'Gatehouse Bank has structured an innovative, asset-backed Shariah-compliant financial solution using the sukuk model, which is very attractive to our clients.'
Youness Abidou, vice president of structured finance at Gatehouse Bank, added: 'The previous successful sukuk issuance identified a new opportunity for the bank to expand its offering in this sector, and with this current arrangement the bank has further capitalised on the demand for well-structured Islamic instruments in the UK.'
Norton Rose acted as UK legal counsel to Gatehouse Bank on this transaction.
Since its inception in 2008, Gatehouse Bank has built up a £1.25 bn global portfolio across real estate assets, capital investment, and term deposits.
Earlier this month, the lender appointed CBRE's former EMEA finance head Natale Giostra to lead its newly created real estate financing business.
PropertyEU's interview with Giostra is available to premium members at the link below.
