The deal is the world's first-ever sovereign green sukuk
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A duo of top international firms acted on a world-first deal by the government of Indonesia.
Clifford Chance advised the Republic of Indonesia on the update of its US$25bn trust certificates issuance programme and the issuance of a US$3bn dual-tranche sukuk. Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) advised joint lead managers and bookrunners Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Citigroup, CIMB, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, and HSBC.
The dual-tranche sukuk, or sharia-compliant capital raising, includes a five-year US$1.25bn “green” wakala sukuk, the first “green” sukuk issuance in the world and Indonesia’s first green bond and first issuance under the country’s recently established green bond framework. It also includes a 10-year US$1.75 wakala sukuk. The green bonds were independently certified “green” by the Center for International Climate Research.
In Singapore, partner Johannes Juette led the Clifford Chance team. In Dubai, partner Qudeer Latif headed the Clifford Chance effort. Singapore senior associate Shashwat Tewary, counsel Gareth Deiner, associate Cherrylene Lee and trainee Guo Kai Soo provided support.
Clifford Chance guided the republic on US and English law aspects of the deal. The deal comes after the firm’s work on Garuda Indonesia’s US$500m sukuk, the first offshore US-dollar offering by an Indonesian corporate. The global firm also advised on Indonesia’s recent issuance of about JP¥100bn (US$799m) in samurai bonds.
For NRF, partner Vicky Münzer-Jones in Singapore headed the team, with assistance from of counsel Cynthia Teo. They were supported by partners Gregory Man in Dubai and David Johnson in Hong Kong. Of counsel Shauaib Mizra, senior associate Ganna Vlasenko and US associate Grace Lo also acted for NRF.
“This was a ground-breaking deal, not only for Asia, but globally, and we are delighted to have been a part of it. The deal enabled us to bring together our debt capital markets, Islamic finance and green bond experience which was delivered seamlessly by our cross jurisdictional team,” said Münzer-Jones.
Man said, “The ethical principles of Islamic finance and the socially responsible approach of the green sukuk framework have been brought together in a harmonious manner and we hope that the strong investor demand that was seen for this product will lead to more green sukuk issuances in the future.”
