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Offa acquires Bank of Ireland's Islamic home finance portfolio




Islamic property finance fintech company, Offa, has purchased Bank of Ireland’s Alburaq Sharia-compliant home finance portfolio.

The deal includes over 350 home purchase plans.

The Birmingham based Offa team worked with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright to create a Sharia-compliant funding structure to overcome tax legislation issues affecting Sharia-compliant finance firms, becoming one of the first financial institutions to buy an Islamic home finance book in the UK.

The deal now means those transferred over to Offa will have access to a wider range of Sharia-compliant property finance products.

Amir Firdaus, CFO at Offa (pictured above), said: “It is testament to Offa’s abilities that Bank of Ireland has agreed to sell their Islamic home finance portfolio to us, this marks another chapter in Offa’s ambitious growth plans.


“Members of the Offa executive team are already very much familiar with Alburaq’s clients, having helped distribute this book almost two decades ago, and we are delighted that these customers are now coming home to us.

“Those who have been transferred as part of this purchase and are eligible will now have access to a wider range of Sharia-compliant property re-financing options.

“We are now focused on ensuring a seamless migration for customers to our servicing platform.”

David Shearer, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, said: “Our focus is always on delivering successful outcomes for our clients and we are delighted to have aided Offa in acquiring the Alburaq portfolio via one of the first Sharia-compliant tranched private securitisations in the UK.

“It marks a significant evolution of the UK’s Islamic finance market and we expect that UK Sharia-compliant securitisations will quickly grow in volume and sophistication.”

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