KUALA LUMPUR: KPJ Healthcare Bhd has made a return to the sukuk market with its maiden offering of sukuk wakalah of RM650mil under its RM3bil sukuk wakalah programme.

       In a statement yesterday, the private hospital group said the programme also provides flexibility for it to issue sustainability sukuk which underscores the KPJ group’s commitment towards the sustainability agenda.

       The offering, established recently via KPJ Healthcare’s wholly owned subsidiary Point Zone (M) Sdn Bhd, is said to be the first by a healthcare industry player and was upsized to RM650mil from the initial size of RM500mil after overwhelming response from high quality investors.

       Bernama reported that proceeds from the issuance would be utilised to fund, among others, syariah-compliant financing activities comprising the expansion, working capital requirements and general corporate purposes of the KPJ group’s healthcare and healthcare-related businesses.

       The sukuk wakalah programme has been assigned a final rating of AA-IS(CG) (stable) by Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd.

       “The offering marks KPJ Healthcare’s successful return to the capital markets after a hiatus of more than a decade and we are indeed pleased with investors’ strong response and the outcome of the transaction.

       “The overwhelming demand is an indication of market confidence in our business strategies moving forward,” said KPJ Healthcare president and managing director Ahmad Shahizam Mohd Shariff.