Walkers has advised Türkiye’s Dünya Katılım Bankası AŞ on a US$100 million Additional Tier 1 capital issuance structured through a Cayman Islands vehicle.
The transaction marks the bank’s first entry into the international capital markets and was completed through Dunya Katilim Sukuk Ltd, a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Cayman.
The issuance involved perpetual subordinated Additional Tier 1 certificates that were admitted to trading on the Vienna MTF of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Walkers said listing support for the transaction was provided by its Ireland-based listing services team led by Therese Redmond.
Dünya Katılım is one of Türkiye’s newest participation banks and has expanded its operations since launch through a focus on Shari’a-compliant banking products.
The Cayman legal team was led by partner Ciaran Bohnacker and senior counsel Szymon Durlo. They were supported by Walkers Professional Services senior vice president Paul McGinness and vice president Jordan Hebert.
The transaction continues a series of mandates for Walkers involving regulatory capital transactions for Turkish participation banks.
The firm said it previously advised Vakıf Katılım Bankası AŞ on its inaugural Additional Tier 1 capital issuance and the establishment of a $1.5 billion sukuk programme.
Bohnacker said in a press release on 3 July that the deal represented a milestone for the bank as it seeks to expand its operations and capital base.
“This inaugural AT1 issuance represents an important milestone for Dünya Katılım as it continues to build its capital base and expand its presence in the Turkish participation banking sector,” he said.
“We are pleased to have supported Dünya Katılım alongside other participation banks in Türkiye as access to Shari’a-compliant capital continues to grow.”
Additional Tier 1 instruments are a form of regulatory capital used by banks to strengthen their balance sheets and meet capital requirements.
