King & Spalding Advises Banks on Africa Finance Corp. Landmark African Sukuk Issuance

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 7, 2017 — King & Spalding advised the joint lead managers on a debut US$150 million sukuk issuance by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)—the first sukuk issuance by an African supranational entity.

The privately placed Sukuk, which has been awarded an A3 senior unsecured rating by Moody’s Investors Service, has a three-year tenor and will mature on 24 January 2020. Emirates NBD Capital, MUFG and RMB acted as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers with Emirates NBD Capital also acting as the sole global coordinator.

Following high levels of investor interest, the initial target of US$100 million was more than twice oversubscribed, resulting in the transaction being upsized to US$150 million and a final order book of approximately US$230 million.

More information can be found in the AFC’s press release here.

The King & Spalding team on this transaction was led by Dubai-based partner Rizwan H Kanji with assistance from senior associate Hamed Afzal (Dubai) and transaction specialist Gina Bunker (Washington, D.C.). Michael Rainey, a Dubai-based partner, separately advised The Bank of New York Mellon in its numerous agency and trust capacities in connection with the transaction.

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