Ciaran Bohnacker
Partner
Dubai
We have supported our long-standing client Alinma Bank on its latest US$500M additional tier 1 sukuk issuance, strengthening the bank's international capital markets profile.
Alinma Bank is one of the largest and fastest-growing Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia boasting over $80 billion in assets and a market capitalisation of SAR 77.3 billion.
The transaction involved a US$500m perpetual non-call 5.5-year AT1 sukuk, with a fixed resettable coupon of 6.625%, issued under its freshly increased US$2bn issuance programme, through Alinma AT1 Sukuk Limited, a Cayman Islands incorporated company.
This issuance builds on our work for Alinma Bank in August 2025 where we assisted Alinma Bank with a similar debt raise of $500 million from its AT1 sustainable sukuk issuance, with a coupon of 6.25%.
We acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Alinma Bank and Alinma AT1 Sukuk Limited in the issuance, with our role consisting of:
- providing the administrative, registered office and directorship services to Alinma AT1 Sukuk Limited
- providing Cayman Islands legal advice and assistance to the parties, including drafting the Cayman Islands law governed documents necessary to give effect to the issuance, as well as reviewing and amending the relevant offering documents
Our Dubai-based team, led by partner Ciaran Bohnacker and senior associate Szymon Durlo worked alongside senior vice president Paul McGinness and vice president Jordan Hebert of Walkers Professional Services (WPS).
Walkers and WPS continues to provide ongoing support to Alinma Bank and Alinma AT1 Sukuk Limited from the legal and administrative perspectives.
On the transaction, Ciaran Bohnacker commented: 'We’re pleased to have once again assisted Alinma Bank in strengthening its international capital markets presence. The transaction reflects the growing investor confidence in the GCC capital markets and we look forward to continuing our work with the bank.'
Coming shortly after the recent US$7 billion PIF multi-tranche bond issuance, and against a backdrop of Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding debt capital markets, this transaction is another clear indicator of the maturity and global reach of the Kingdom’s capital markets, including increasing use of subordinated sukuk by banks to support growth.
Get in touch with our team to see how we can support your next issuance.
