Islamic Development Bank Aims To Price Benchmark Sukuk On Thursday

Islamic Development Bank is aiming to price a benchmark-sized Islamic bond issue on Thursday after releasing initial price guidance for a five-year deal, a document from lead managers showed.

The supranational lender set initial guidance at mid-to-high 20s over midswaps, the document said on Tuesday.

While no definitive size has been set for the issue, the first from the AAA-rated bank since May, the document said that it was expected to be benchmark-sized – which is traditionally understood to mean in excess of $500 million.

The banks arranging the transaction are CIMB, Commerzbank, First Gulf Bank, HSBC, Natixis, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered.