Ashurst brings in £700m offshore sukuk for Kuwaiti-backed bankers

Ashurst has won a major Islamic finance instruction, advising on the creation of a $1bn (£700m) offshore sukuk programme.

Ashurst Islamic finance partner Abradat Kamalpour advised Gatehouse Bank as arranger and dealer on the Islamic bond. Milestone Capital, the Jersey-based vehicle issuing the sukuk, instructed offshore firm Carey Olsen ­partners Alan Stevens and Mark Keeler.

Kamalpour had previously advised Gatehouse Bank while at Dechert, where he played an integral part in building the firm’s Islamic finance offering. He joined Ashurst in August last year, bringing trainee Amr Marar with him.

“The Milestone platform is very timely in that it allows investors access to sharia-compliant funds at transparent and attractive prices,” said Kamalpour.

Gatehouse Bank, a subsidiary of Kuwait-based investment group KSCC, was granted a licence to operate in the UK by the Financial Services ­Authority in April 2008.

“We have many plans for the Milestone sukuk ­platform,” said Gatehouse Banks general counsel Adil Hussain. “It has a very ­flexible architecture in terms of the underlying sharia structure that can be used for each issue.”

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