Bahrain Fund Mumtalakat Sets Up $1bn Bond, Sukuk Programmes

Bahraini sovereign fund Mumtalakat has set up separate bond and sukuk issuance programmes in the Irish stock exchange to raise as much as $1 billion, to help refinance maturing debt next year.

One of the smaller sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf region, Mumtalakat holds stakes in several firms in the Kingdom’s non-oil sector, including Bahrain Telecommunications Co and Aluminium Bahrain.

The multi-currency programmes have been assigned a BBB rating by Fitch ratings, which said proceeds would be used predominantly to refinance upcoming maturities.

Mumtalakat, set up in 2006, issued a debut five-year $750 million bond in June 2010 and has since printed two small sukuk deals denominated in Malaysian ringgit.

In March, its chief executive said the fund had no plans to tap the debt capital markets this year and that it would remain opportunistic in its funding approach.

Traditionally focused on Bahrain, Mumtalakat is eyeing investments worldwide and hopes to complete some acquisitions in the information and communications technology space.

Mumtalakat has hired HSBC, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Standard Chartered for the deal.