Abu Dhabi-based Tabreed, a leading district cooling company, announced today that it successfully raised $700 million through its inaugural five-year green sukuk. This issuance is the first under the company’s new $1.5 billion trust certificate issuance program. The new sukuk will be listed and traded on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market.
The issuance attracted strong institutional demand from high-quality local, regional and international investors. This led to the order books exceeding 4.3 times and the final issue being oversubscribed by nearly 2.6 times, reflecting the high level of investor confidence in Tabreed’s robust credit fundamentals.
“Tabreed’s enviable reputation is built on the foundations of sustainability and operational excellence, so this, our first green sukuk, is perfectly aligned with our existing business while focussing on new developments,” stated Khalid Al Marzooqi, Tabreed’s CEO.
Issuance’s profit rate reaches 5.279 percent
The sukuk was competitively priced with a profit rate of 5.279 percent, achieving the highest tightening by any investment grade regional sukuk issuance this year and the tightest ever credit spread for a five-year instrument by Tabreed and or any other UAE corporate sukuk with a similar credit rating.
Proceeds from this latest sukuk will be used in alignment with Tabreed’s Green Financing Framework, which was first published in March 2022 and later updated in February 2025.
Under this framework, Tabreed is able to issue green bonds and loans, with the resulting net proceeds to be used for financing and refinancing ‘Eligible Green Projects’ which include its core business of constructing, acquiring and operating District Cooling schemes, as well as projects related to Energy and Water Efficiency and Wastewater Management.
The framework was accompanied by a Second Party Opinion from the leading global ESG ratings agency Sustainalytics. Together they demonstrate the sustainable nature of Tabreed’s district cooling operations, which use approximately 50 percent less electricity than conventional cooling.
“The UAE has an ambitious roadmap for net-zero and we are proud at Tabreed to play a vital role in preventing large-scale carbon emissions while enabling societal progress through sustainable district cooling,” added Al Marzooqi.
Read: Economic data, ECB rate decision to drive market sentiment this week as U.S. tariffs loom
First sukuk to be listed on London Stock Exchange
Tabreed continues to be a pioneer in the international sukuk market, having been a regular issuer over the past 20 years. In 2006, its $200 million sukuk issuance was the first to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, which paved the way for other issuers to follow. That issuance was also the first rated sukuk by a corporate entity in the Middle East.
Citi and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners, with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank acting as Co-Manager.
