Ashurst has advised Goldman Sachs International as arranger and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD Capital, NCB Capital, QInvest, Goldman Sachs International and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi as joint lead managers and bookrunners and Mashreqbank PSC as co-manager on the issuance of a US$500 million Sukuk.

The wakala-structured Islamic bond has been issued though the JANY Sukuk Company Limited and is rated A-/A by S&P/Fitch, respectively, identical to the ratings of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., based on a Goldman Sachs Group guarantee to the JANY Sukuk Company Limited in the underlying structure.

Abradat Kamalpour, Islamic finance partner at Ashurst, added:

"We are delighted to have worked with the Goldman Sachs team and with all of the joint lead managers on this ground-breaking Sukuk transaction. The demand for Sukuk is surging and we would expect a number of other issuers to follow suit. We have worked closely with the Goldman Sachs legal team on the legal structure of the Sukuk and also with the some of the other joint lead managers and their Shari'ah teams on carefully considering the structural and legal elements of the transaction."