Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services (RVOS), an equally-owned joint venture between Rawabi Holding and Vallianz Holdings Ltd., has appointed Alinma Investment Co., Saudi Fransi Capital, Saudi Hollandi Capital and GIB Capital LLC as joint lead managers and book runners for its first SR1 billion Shariah-compliant sukuk issuance.

The sukuk were sold through a private placement to sophisticated investors in full and are to be used to partially finance the marine assets of RVOS over a period of five years.

Abdulaziz Al-Turki, chairman of both Rawabi Holding Group and Rawabi Vallianz, said: "Sukuk have become a prominent financing product in the world nowadays. The issuance of these sukuk through financial institutions and investment funds are traded while abiding to specific rules and laws that follow such types of funding.”

He added: "Sukuk are considered imperative funding channels used for providing the required liquidity to finance projects at an acceptable cost, paving the way for other means of funding through financial and non-financial institutions and individuals, thus leading to an expansion in the finance base, a reduced pressure on the banks’ monetary liquidity and a healthy support for the national economy. It also provides protection for the investors by empowering them with the ability to diversify risks through provision of calculated risk investment tools and a positive cycle of return on investment.”

Rawabi Holding claims to bring together a significant experience of three decades in providing a diversified range of products and services in the fields of oil and gas, petrochemicals, engineering and construction, power and manufacturing across the Kingdom and the rest of Middle East.

“Vallianz is excited to have been part of this innovative financing structure. The sukuk issuance is a testament of the good working relationship with various partners in region,” Vallianz CEO Ling Yong Wah said.