REAL ESTATE - QInvest advises Turkey REIT on $50mn ‘murabaha’ finance facility

www.gulf-times.com - QInvest has advised a Turkey-based Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on the latter’s $50mn syndicated ‘murabaha’ finance facility.
QInvest acted as sole book runner and structuring advisor to İş Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı (İş REIT), which entered into a financing agreement with a syndicate of banks from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The finance facility carries tenure of two years and a profit rate of Libor +250 basis points.  (source)

REAL ESTATE - İş REIT Signs US$ 50 million Syndicated Murabaha Facility

www.qinvest.com -

• 2-year syndicated US Dollar Murabaha facility.
  
• QInvest acting as Sole Bookrunner and Structuring Advisor.
  
• Qatar Islamic Bank acting as Initial Mandated Lead Arranger with Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank and Mashreq Bank as Mandated Lead Arrangers.

İş Gayrimenkul Yatirim Ortakligi A.S (“İş REIT” or the “Company”) has signed a US$ 50 million Murabaha facility with a syndicate of banks from the GCC. The facility carries a tenor of 2 years and a profit rate of LIBOR +250 bps.

QInvest acted as Sole Bookrunner and Structuring Advisor to İş REIT. Qatar Islamic Bank was the Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and is also acting as the Investment Agent with Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank, Mashreq Bank taking the Mandate Lead Arranger roles. (source)

BANKING - Turkish Stocks: Akbank, Albaraka, Tofas, Turkish Airlines Move

www.bloomberg.com - Albarak Turk Katilim Bankasi AS (ALBRK) , an Islamic bank (QIBK), dropped 3.1 percent to 1.89 liras, its biggest loss since Jan. 6. Albaraka won’t pay a dividend from last year’s profit, the lender said in a statement to the exchange today. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Albaraka Turk hopes to raise $200m in sukuk-CEO

Dec 11 (Reuters) - The Turkish unit of Bahrain's Albaraka Banking Group hopes to raise $200 million in an Islamic bond by the end of this week and is seeing interest from Asian and Arab Gulf investors, the group's chief executive said on Sunday.

"We're in the market for this sukuk and hope to raise $200 million by the end of this week," Adnan Yousif told Reuters.

"Pricing for the sukuk is very reasonable. It's in the 6 percent range," Yousif added.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Commerzbank : Case Study: Kuveyt Turk Bank - a USD 350 million 5 year sukuk in Turkey attracts an international market

Overview

Commerzbank acts as Joint Lead Manager for Turkey’s second largest sukuk transaction to date. By targeting high-quality investors across the Middle East, Asia and Europe, orders exceeded the target USD350mn issue size by 60%, allowing the client to secure competitive pricing and an unusually diverse investor base.

The Challenge

Kuveyt Turk is one of the two-largest participation banks in Turkey by assets. Majority-owned by Kuwait Finance House, it operates along strict Islamic Finance principles (Shariah law). (source)

BANKING - QIB Will Increase Staff as Much as 7% by Year-End, CEO Says - Looking towards Turkey

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK), the country’s biggest Shariah-compliant lender, plans to increase its workforce by as much as 7 percent this year, Acting Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Meshari said today.

The lender, which has about 750 employees, recently hired more than 50 people, having made a somewhat lesser number redundant, to bring in “new blood,” Meshari said in a telephone interview in Doha. There will be no more layoffs and further hiring is planned, he said.(full story)

BANKING - Turkish delight for UAB

According to the Today's Zaman website Adnan Yousif, chairman of UAB has said that banks from the Gulf are looking for Turkish banks to acquire. Yousif was speaking at the Enhancing Shamgen Banking: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan conference in İstanbul when he indicated that big Arab banks such as Al Rajah Bank, Qatar National Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank were seeking opportunities to become established in Turkey by purchasing a national bank. (full story)

BANKING - Qatar Islamic Bank eyeing up Bank Asya

The new, but lucrative participation banking sector in Turkey is attracting the covetous glances of foreign Islamic banks, at a time when the Arab world is in turmoil. Local news source, Haberturk, raised the specter that foreign buyers were looking to secure a stake in Asya Katilim Bankasi, Turkey’s largest participation bank. Because of Turkey’s secularist constitution, Islamic banks are referred to as participation banks. The report claimed that HSBC had been mandated to sell 25% of Bank Asya to Qatar Islamic Bank – this was swiftly denied by Bank Asya, but neither confirmed nor denied by QIB. (full story)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Turkish Islamic banks plan to sell bonds

Türkiye Finans, led by Yunus Nacar, plans to sell at least $300 million in Islamic bonds this year. 
 

Turkey’s Islamic banks are planning sukuk sales to take advantage of both the lowest borrowing costs in more than five years and the rising demand for the country’s securities.

Türkiye Finans, Kuveyt Türk and Albaraka Türk, all at least part-owned by Persian Gulf lenders, said they plan to offer Islamic bonds this year. (full story)

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Turkish Stocks Rise 5th Day on Merger Speculation (Bank Asya)

...  HSBC Holdings Plc was hired to find a Turkish partner for a foreign bank, Reuters reported March 9, while the Haberturk newspaper said on March 10 that Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) wants to buy a 25 percent stake in Asya Katilim AS.

...

Qatar Islamic Bank wants to enter the Turkish market, its acting Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Meshari said in Doha yesterday. Meshari declined to comment on the Haberturk report. ... (full story)

BANKING - Turkish Equity Movers: Bank Asya ... Move

...

Asya Katilim Bankasim AS (ASYAB TI), an Islamic bank, rose 2.8 percent to 2.96 liras, the highest level in two months. The lender said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange today that it hadn’t decided to sell a stake or didn’t hire an investment bank to find a buyer. Reuters reported on March 9 HSBC Holdings Plc had been hired to find a Turkish partner for a foreign bank, and the Haberturk newspaper said yesterday Qatar Islamic Bank wants to buy a 25 percent stake in the Asya.

... (full story)

BANKING - ‘QIB eyes Turkish Islamic bank stake’

Asya Katilim Bankasi, a Turkish Islamic bank, rose in Istanbul after Haberturk reported that Qatar Islamic Bank aims to buy 25% of the company. Bank Asya, as the bank is known, climbed 13 kurus, or 4.6%, to 2.99 liras at 10.04am, heading for the biggest two-day gain since November 2008. HSBC Holdings was hired to find a partner in Turkey for a foreign bank, Reuters reported. (full story)

BANKING - Al-Baraka plans up to $500 million sukuk in Q1 2011 - Indonesia first priority now

BEIRUT: Bahraini Islamic lender Al-Baraka will issue up to $500 million in Islamic bonds in the first quarter of 2011, its chief executive said Thursday.

“We will issue sukuk in 2011 for the group in Bahrain between $200 and $500 million,” Adnan Yousif told Reuters on the sidelines of a banking conference in Beirut.

“It is a medium-term sukuk for five years and it will help financial institutions to attract new clients to take part in these sukuk,” he added.