Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has raised $1.5 billion through the sale of dollar-denominated sukuk with a ten-year maturity, as part of its recently launched international sukuk program.
The issuance, carried out by ADNOC Murban, a subsidiary specialized in issuing debt instruments in global capital markets, attracted orders exceeding $3.85 billion. The sukuk were priced at 60 basis points over U.S. Treasury bonds. Standard Chartered acted as the sole global coordinator, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group served as active joint lead managers.
ADNOC plans to use the proceeds from the sukuk sale for general corporate purposes.
This issuance follows ADNOC Murban’s medium-term global bond issuance in September 2024 and the signing of a green financing facility in June 2024.
Moody’s announced it had assigned a provisional (P)Aa2 credit rating with a stable outlook to ADNOC Murban RSC Ltd.’s new sukuk issuance program, in line with the existing Aa2 rating and stable outlook of ADNOC Murban.
The sukuk program has been established under ADNOC Murban Sukuk Ltd., a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in the UAE. Moody’s clarified that the rating reflects ADNOC Murban’s strategic importance within the ADNOC Group and its strong link to the Government of Abu Dhabi. The agency also noted that the rating does not represent an opinion on the compliance of the sukuk structure with Islamic finance principles.
The proceeds from the sukuk issuance will be used by ADNOC Murban Sukuk Ltd. to purchase a portfolio of shares in publicly listed companies within the UAE from ADNOC or its wholly-owned subsidiaries. ADNOC Murban will manage this portfolio as the servicing agent on behalf of the issuer.