Abu Dhabi property firm said to pull $350m sukuk

A $350 million sukuk deal from Private Department of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan LLC (PD), a relatively small real estate player in Abu Dhabi owned by members of its ruling family, was pulled late on Wednesday, four financial sources said.

PD had been seeking up to $600 million and would most likely have had the outlook on its ‘Ba1’ Moody’s rating changed to negative from stable had the deal priced at the $350 million size, three of the sources said, two of them adding it likely faced a downgrade.

The firm and Moody’s did not immediately respond to a comment request.

“The Private Department of Skh Mohamed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan has decided not to proceed with the offering and will revisit at an appropriate time, subject to market conditions,” the company said in a note to investors, seen by Reuters, sent just before midnight after allocations were out.

The company’s total debt was 2.17 billion dirhams ($590.9 million) at the end of 2020, an investor presentation reviewed by Reuters for the sukuk showed.

“I think the rating was predicated on them having a little bit extra for additional spending,” one of the sources said, adding if the company did not have enough cash for its projects, that would clearly impact its credit assessment.