The sukuk, which will be listed, have been rated AA by the rating agency and will include a partial credit guarantee of 966 million rupees.
The sukuk would help fund the network expansion of Mobilink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Telecom Holding, which is in turn majority-owned by Russia’s VimpelCom.
The credit guarantee will be extended by Mauritius-based GuarantCo, a specialised financial guarantor indirectly owned by the development agencies of Britain, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Credit guarantees for sukuk are rare because of the profit-sharing nature of Islamic finance, but they could prove to be an important development, attracting a wider range of corporate and sovereign issuers to the Islamic bond market.
Last month, Export Development Canada helped secure $78 million for a deal involving the lease of four Bombardier planes to Ethiopian Airlines, the first sharia-compliant transaction in Africa’s aviation sector.
Britain’s export credit agency expects to guarantee a sukuk issued by a Gulf-based customer of European plane maker Airbus early this year. -Reuters
