Dubai (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar is set to raise $750 million from a debut sale of green bonds that fetched over $4.2 billion in demand, a bank document showed on Tuesday.
The bonds launched at a spread of 115 basis points (bps) over U.S. Treasuries from initial guidance of around 150 bps over the same benchmark, the document from one of the arranging banks showed.
Issuers in the hydrocarbon-rich Gulf have increasingly looked to burnish their environmental credentials by issuing green bonds or other sustainability-linked debt. The UAE will host the COP28 climate summit in November.
Sultan al-Jaber, head of state oil giant ADNOC, will lead the U.N. climate conference, which has drawn criticism. He also chairs Masdar and was its founding CEO.
Debt sales in the region restarted last week after about a month-long lull that began after Commercial Bank of Dubai sold green bonds, with Dubai developer Sobha Realty opening the way with a $300 million sukuk offering.
Two Abu Dhabi banks then followed, raising a total of $1.25 billion from the sale of conventional and Islamic bonds.
Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co (4300.SE) was set to raise $600 million with sukuk on Tuesday and Saudi food and beverage firm Almarai (2280.SE) is also in the market with dollar sukuk.
