DEBT WATCH- Sarwa submits prospectus for Egypt’s second corporate sukuk issuance: Consumer- and structured- finance player Sarwa Capital is preparing a single-tranche EGP 2.5 bn corporate sukuk issuance, Ayman El Sawy, managing director of Sarwa Promotion & Underwriting, told Hapi Journal. Sarwa has already submitted the prospectus for the issuance to the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) for approval and is working on the rest of the paperwork.

About the issuance: The sukuk carry a seven-year tenor, maturing in 2027. Sarwa plans to take the shariah-compliant bonds to market a month or six weeks after the Eid Al Adha holiday at the end of July.

Advisors: Sarwa has tapped our friends at ALC Alieldean Weshahi & Partners as legal counsel for the issuance, while KPMG Hazem Hassan is acting as financial auditor, and Middle East Ratings and Investor Services (MERIS) will issue a rating on the offering. The firm is still in talks with promoters and underwriters for the issuance, according to El Sawy.

Background: Sarwa’s offering will be the second sukuk issuance to hit the Egyptian market since the FRA published regulations for the bonds last year. Talaat Moustafa Group issued Egypt’s first corporate sukuk in April with a EGP 2 bn offering. The FRA’s head of central financing Sayed Abdelfadil said at the time that five other sukuk offerings worth a combined EGP 5 bn — including Sarwa’s — were in the pipeline for this year.