Cenomi Centers—Saudi Arabia’s powerhouse of lifestyle hubs—has once again stepped onto the financial stage with the confidence of a developer that knows its malls keep buzzing even on the slowest weekday. Fresh off a six-month run that saw more than a thousand leases renewed and over two hundred new brands pulled into its orbit, the company has now tightened the screws on its latest $500 million sukuk.
The five-year, non-call-two structure locked in an 8.875% coupon, sliding into the market at a re-offer price just above 99, landing investors at a 9.125% yield. Early whispers had the pricing drifting higher, but demand pushed back—hard.
Bids climbed toward the billion-dollar mark before cooling at $880 million, with a notable slice scooped up by arranging banks. Market watchers, including Fitch, hinted at a touch of upside once the sukuk starts trading, calling it primed for “slight outperformance.”
Built on a fixed-rate Wakala-Murabaha structure, the paper is lined up for ratings that mirror the company’s own standing. A global bench of banks—from Abu Dhabi to New York and Dubai to London—carried the mandate, stitching together the orderbook for the Tadawul-listed retail giant.
This issuance slots neatly into Cenomi’s broader $1 billion trust certificate programme, with the notes destined for The International Stock Exchange. One bank carried the Islamic structuring baton alone, steering the sukuk through to completion.
The capital raised now heads toward cleaning up the company’s balance sheet—retiring an $875 million maturity coming due in late 2026 and trimming down bank debt along the way.
A tidy move for a company whose malls are already packed.
