Dubai – Mubasher: Drake & Scull International (DSI) has unveiled plans to issue a 5-year AED 450 million convertible sukuk in the second quarter of 2018.

The sukuk sale will be issued as a private placement or public issuance at a price of AED 3 per share or a 25% discount of the share’s market price, DSI said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Wednesday.

“The sukuk issuance comes within the framework of the strategic plan approved by the company’s board, as a succession of the restructuring and recapitalisation efforts implemented to secure the required funding for the firm’s projects,” investor relations director at DSI Rabih Abou Diwan commented.

In January, the regional provider of engineering and construction services announced that it has successfully completed the restructuring of its corporate general bank debt in the UAE.

The DFM-listed company’s ordinary general meeting (OGM) will be held in April to discuss the sukuk issuance proposal, which will be – if approved by shareholders – subject to regulatory approval.

“The key objective is diversification of our financing, and the sukuk offers a sharia-compliant platform that is appealing and reassuring to a larger spectrum of investors, and most importantly to our shareholders,” Abou Diwan added.

DSI generated profits of around AED 0.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.