Manama: Gulf International Bank (GIB) announced that it has successfully closed its debut US$500 million syndicated Murabaha financing facility, marking the Bank's first Islamic syndicated transaction in the international market. The three-year Shariah-compliant facility was well oversubscribed, driven by strong demand from a broad mix of leading regional and international banks.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the successful completion of the facility underscores GIB's sound financial position in the market. The strong interest garnered by the facility has enabled GIB to further diversify its funding base and facilitate the Bank's continued business growth across its core markets and key business lines.
Sara Abdulhadi, Chief Executive Officer of GIB, stated that the successful closing of GIB's inaugural syndicated Murabaha facility represents a significant step in diversifying the bank's funding strategy. She noted that the strong interest and oversubscription from a wide range of regional and international banks demonstrate the high level of market confidence in GIB's standing as a prominent pan-GCC universal bank.
SMBC Group acted as the Initial Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner and Coordinator for the facility. Emirates NBD Capital Limited and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC were the Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners.