Gulf finance house, a shareholder in English football club Leeds United, is planning to issue US$200m of sukuk to repay outstanding debt and for acquisitions. The deal will take place in the coming months subject to regulatory approvals, the Islamic investment bank said in a statement. "GFH plans to use proceeds from the sukuk to repay current outstanding sukuk of US$84m and undertake business acquisitions for financial consolidation and project development in Bahrain and Dubai," the company said. In April, the company obtained shareholder approval for new debt facilities of up to US$500m. The sukuk are to be listed on the Nasdaq Dubai Exchange. Six months ago there were some question marks over whether GFH had the capacity to meet its debt obligations, with analysts at investment house Exotix highlighting the Bahraini firm's strained liquidity profile and negative free cashflow as hurdles to repayment.
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