Clifford Chance and Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm advised Saudi Telecom Company (STC) in relation to the establishment of its US$5 billion sukuk programme and its debut international capital markets issuance of US$1.25 billion 10-year fixed rate trust certificate by STC Sukuk Company Limited (the Certificates).
STC is the leading telecommunications operator in Saudi Arabia and is one of the highest value telecom brands in the Middle East. STC provides a wide variety of telecommunications services in Saudi Arabia, including mobile, fixed-line and broadband access products, wholesale, data centre hosting, solutions for office and home environments, cybersecurity and other information and communication technology and related solutions.
This transaction marks STC’s debut foray into the international debt capital markets issuance and is a landmark transaction for STC in terms of diversifying its sources of funding and investor base while gaining access to greater pools of liquidity.
The transaction was highly successful with the orderbook being 3.5 times oversubscribed.
First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, KFH Capital, Samba Capital and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers on the issuance.
The Clifford Chance team comprised partner Qudeer Latif (Picture), John Connolly (Partner), Stuart Ure (Partner), Ahmed Choudhry (Senior Associate), Alekhya Prakash (Senior Associate), Christopher Osborne (Senior Associate), Kierra Jones (Law Clerk) and Ismaila Ngum (Trainee Solicitor).
The AS&H team comprised Yasser Al-Hussain (Partner), Reema Al-Hamoud (Associate), Ali Moiz Ansari (Associate) and Sahal Khalawi (Associate).
Involved fees earner: Reema Al-Hamoud – Abuhimed AlSheikh AlHagbani (AS&H); Yasser Al-Hussain – Clifford Chance; Ahmed Choudhry – Clifford Chance; John Connolly – Clifford Chance; Kierra Jones – Clifford Chance; Sahal Khalawi – Clifford Chance; Qudeer Latif – Clifford Chance; Ali Moiz Ansari – Clifford Chance; Ismaila Ngum – Clifford Chance; Christopher Osborne – Clifford Chance; Alekhya Prakash – Clifford Chance; Stuart Ure – Clifford Chance;
Law Firms: Abuhimed AlSheikh AlHagbani (AS&H); Clifford Chance;
Clients: Saudi Telecom;
