SHUAA Capital Leads US$50 Million Sukuk Funding Round for Pure Harvest Smart Farms

SHUAA Capital psc (DFM: SHUAA), the leading asset management and investment banking platform in the Middle East has led a US$50 million structured Sukuk for Pure Harvest Smart Farms, the world-leading, sustainable technology-enabled agribusiness based in the UAE.

SHUAA also co-invested in Pure Harvest through its managed funds as part of this funding round.

SHUAA originated, structured, and placed the innovative financing solution, which comprises a US$50 million 3-year Sukuk with embedded warrants. Simultaneously, Pure Harvest has also raised US$10 million in growth equity. This is the first time in the region that an early-stage business has been able to secure venture debt funding from capital markets, highlighting SHUAA’s unique capabilities to structure instruments that meet the objectives of the business as well as the strong investor demand for products such as for Islamic investments and ESG (green sukuks). This investment round attracted cornerstone investments from Franklin Templeton and Sancta Capital amongst others.

Jassim Alseddiqi, Group Chief Executive Officer of SHUAA, said, “SHUAA has once again demonstrated its ability to deliver innovative and compelling investment products with this first-of-its-kind investment in Pure Harvest Smart Farms. We see exciting potential in the technology space and this is a great example of how we are executing on our stated strategy to focus on this area, this time supporting a market leader in AgTech as it seeks to accelerate its growth.”

Natasha Hannoun, who led the transaction for SHUAA, added, “At SHUAA, we have a strong track record in identifying businesses with market-leading propositions and teams and Pure Harvest fits this criterion perfectly. We witnessed Pure Harvest Smart Farms’ leadership in AgTech, the strength of the team, and its proven ability to execute, giving us the confidence that Pure Harvest Smart has significant growth potential as it seeks to address the need for food security within the Gulf and wider region.

“We are delighted that SHUAA has been able to deliver this innovative and highly complex structured financing solution for Pure Harvest Smart Farms is another regional first. This funding will help the company to scale into a major regional player in controlled-environment agriculture and we are excited to back the region’s AgTech champion when it comes to food security, sustainability, and economic diversification.”

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius has acted as legal adviser to SHUAA on the Sukuk.

Originally published on www.menafn.com