<p>Al Tamimi &amp; Company&rsquo;s Jordan and Kuwait offices served as lead counsel in  the closing of an 85 million JOD Sukuk Al Ijara Mountahia Bittamlik. The  transaction, led by Khaled Saqqaf, partner and head of the Jordan and Iraq  offices, and Alex Saleh, partner and head of the Kuwait office, marks the first  ever issuance of an Islamic Sukuk in Jordan. <br /><br />The transaction, which  closed on the 1st of March, 2011, took place after the Jordanian Cabinet of  Ministers approved a number of tax exemptions for the issuance of Islamic bonds  for Al Rajhi Cement / Jordan PSC, a Shari&rsquo;a compliant company, in October 2010.  Al Tamimi &amp; Company was mandated as lead counsel to Capital Investments &ndash;  the investment arm of Capital Bank, and who acted as Lead Managers of the  transaction. Our involvement included structuring, drafting, reviewing and  implementing all transaction documentation, in addition to advising on law  aspects and security options relevant to the transaction.&nbsp; <br /><br />The  transaction involved the creation of an SPV in the Cayman Islands, with the  assistance of Cayman Law counsel, Walkers SPV Ltd, which issued the 7-year  JD85,000,000 Sukuk Al-Ijara Muntahia Bittamilik variable rate semi-annual return  due 2018, and which held and shall hold the same on trust for the Sukukholders.  The Sukuk represents ownership of certain assets purchased by the Issuer from Al  Rajhi, and leased back to it by way of a lease-to-own (Ijara Muntahia  Bittamilik) pursuant to an Ijara agreement between both parties for a period of  7 years. These Ijara Rentals received from Al Rajhi pursuant to the Ijara  Agreement shall be used by the Issuer (in his capacity as Trustee) to make  periodic payments to the Sukukholders on each periodic distribution date.</p>