Hogan Lovells has advised Aktif Bank on the first sukuk ever to be listed on the Global Exchange Market of the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE).
The USD 118 million sukuk was issued under a mudarabah structure with GAP Insaat Yatirim ve Dıs Ticaret A.S., a Turkish construction company, acting as mudarib.
While the Irish Stock Exchange has listed sukuk historically, this is the first sukuk to be listed on the ISE's Global Exchange Market (GEM), which Hogan Lovells describes as "one of the fastest growing debt listing markets in Europe, with over 1,000 issuers and more than 11,000 debt securities from 50 countries."
The Hogan Lovells team was led by Dubai-based Partner Imran Mufti, who commented that "we were delighted to assist Aktif Bank on this landmark transaction and its listing on the Global Exchange Market of the Irish Stock Exchange which has increasingly become much more of a popular venue for sovereign and corporate issuers from the Middle East."
Mufti was supported by Rome-based Counsel Annalisa Feliciani, Dubai-based Senior Associate Ahmet Kalafat, and trainees Marjun Parcasio and Luigi de Angelis.
Hogan Lovells also represented Bank of New York Mellon as delegate trustee and paying agent with London-based Partner Kit Johnson, London-based Associate Megan James, and Trainee Chris Montague-Jones advising.
Onur Aksoy from Aktif Bank added: "This sukuk represents a milestone for Islamic capital markets originating out of Turkey, particularly in light of the ISE listing on the Global Exchange Market. We were pleased to work with the Hogan Lovells team, benefitting from their deep understanding of Islamic finance and capital markets and their experience advising on similar transactions."
