<a href="https://middleeastdaily.net/porsche-centre-kuwait-named-2025-importer-of-the-year-for-middle-east-region/”>Kuwait, 25 May 2026: Kuwait International Bank (KIB) Group, through its investment arm KIB Invest, announced its participation as Joint Lead Manager in the successful issuance of a USD 1 billion Sukuk by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), one of the world’s highest-rated multilateral development institutions.
This landmark issuance is considered a significant transaction in the international Islamic capital markets, as it was issued by IsDB, which holds the highest credit ratings of Aaa by Moody’s, AAA by S&P, and AAA by Fitch, all with stable outlooks. KIB Group’s participation in the strategically important transaction reflects the confidence placed in its capital markets capabilities and its growing role in arranging high-quality Sukuk issuances for leading regional and international institutions.
The five-year Sukuk was priced on 7 May 2026, settled on 14 May 2026, and will mature on 14 May 2031. Despite elevated geopolitical uncertainty linked to evolving regional developments, IsDB strategically moved forward with the transaction once market conditions became more supportive, focusing on execution quality, achieving tighter pricing, and securing broader participation from high-quality investors.
Commenting on the achievement, Mohammad Al Duwailah, General Manager of Treasury at KIB, said: “KIB Group’s participation in IsDB’s USD 1 billion Sukuk issuance marks an important step in our continued advancement within the global Sukuk markets. Participating in a transaction for an institution with the highest possible credit ratings across the three major international rating agencies reflects the level of confidence that leading issuers and arrangers place in KIB Group’s capabilities, market access, and execution standards.”
He added: “The success of this issuance, despite a complex market backdrop, highlights both the quality of the issuer and the confidence that global investors continue to place in GCC capital markets, highly rated supranational issuers and in the resilience of Islamic capital markets. For KIB Group, being part of a transaction of this scale and credit quality reinforces our strategy to deepen our presence across regional and global Sukuk markets while contributing to their continued development.”
From his side, Jamal Hamad Al Barrak, Chief Executive Officer of KIB Invest, said: “Our role as Joint Lead Manager allowed KIB Invest to contribute actively to a disciplined and well-executed book-building process, adding positive momentum to the transaction and supporting its successful execution. The strong investor response to the issuance reflects confidence in IsDB’s credit profile, the resilience of the Sukuk market, and the value added by the joint syndicate group.
Al Barrak added: “The allocation profile, with strong participation from central banks, sovereign wealth funds, government agencies, banks, and private banking investors across MENA, Asia, Europe, the UK, and the United States, demonstrates the breadth of demand for Shariah-compliant instruments. KIB Invest will continue to build on this momentum by broadening access to a wider base of institutional investors across global Islamic capital markets.”
The transaction was announced on 6 May 2026, with Initial Price Thoughts set at 5-year US SOFR Mid-Swaps +55 basis points. Benefiting from a more constructive market backdrop and strong investor demand, IsDB set final terms on 7 May 2026 at 5-year US SOFR Mid-Swaps +52 basis points, representing a 3-basis-point tightening from IPTs, while achieving its targeted issuance size of USD 1 billion and desired pricing outcome. Order attrition remained minimal as demand continued to build, with the final orderbook closing above USD 2.65 billion, reflecting strong oversubscription of more than 2.6 times. The IsDB Senior Unsecured Sukuk ultimately priced at a profit rate of 4.227% for investors.
KIB Invest acted alongside a syndicate of leading regional and international Joint Lead Managers, including Bank of China, BMO Capital Markets, BNP PARIBAS, ICBC, J.P. Morgan, Nomura, Standard Chartered Bank, and Warba Bank. This strong institutional syndicate reflects the significant support underpinning the transaction, as well as the broad confidence global investors place in IsDB’s credit profile.