The Bristol-based Islamic finance team at national law firm Foot Anstey has advised on another landmark deal – the UK’s first Islamic financed acquisition of a mobile CT scanning unit, which will be used in the city.
The transaction comes just two months after the team advised London-based fintech start-up Nester on what was believed to be the first UK peer-to-peer Islamic finance fintech deal. 
In the latest deal it helped SAH Diagnostics use the Murabaha Islamic financing structure to buy the CT unit, pictured, in a deal funded by impact investor Bristol City Funds and Bristol and Bath Regional Capital (BBRC).
The mobile unit will be used in areas of Bristol and other parts of the UK that are underserved by current CT scanners. Mobile units of this kind, which are equipped with fresh air systems and changing rooms, allow radiographers to perform urgent scans away from hospitals and clinics.
Foot Anstey solicitor Aziz Deen, pictured, who led on the deal, said: “It has been a pleasure to support on this ground-breaking acquisition for SAH Diagnostics.
“This deal demonstrates the applicability of Islamic Finance and represents an expansion from its traditionally property focused usage in the UK. 
“The unit is set to support many communities in the South West and will make a significant difference by enabling access to high-quality medical care through its ease of use. We look forward to continuing to support SAH’s ambitions and in the work that it is doing.”
SAH’s directors said the Foot Anstey team had worked diligently to complete the deal within the parameters of their understanding of pure Islamic finance.
They also thanked City Funds, which is run by BBRC to bring together the public and private sectors, mixing investment, grant-funding & pro bono support to make Bristol a fair, healthy and sustainable city, and BBRC itself for being very accommodating and accepting the pure Murabaha structure.
“This is a great milestone for our company as we only deal with Islamic finance to expand our much-needed services,” they added.
“From the time of the acquisition to date we at SAH have served more than 1,800 patients on the newly acquired mobile CT from Canon Medical.
“The unit has been deployed into the NHS to help alleviate the backlog of patients caused by the pandemic.
“We hope that this deal will serve as a benchmark for others seeking Islamic finance and look forward to using this structure again in the very near future for our asset purchases.
“We are rapidly expanding our fleet of mobile/modular clinical units in the field of diagnostics and urology due to the high demand and constant requests from various NHS trusts to provide services especially during these unprecedented times.”
Murabaha is a common method of finance in Islamic banking with a deferred sale of goods at cost plus an agreed profit mark-up under which the seller purchases goods at cost price from a supplier and sells the goods to the buyer at cost price plus an agreed mark-up.
Islamic finance is one of Foot Anstey’s six key sectors along with development, energy & infrastructure, private equity, private wealth and retail & consumer. The firm also has offices in Exeter, London, Plymouth, Southampton, Taunton and Truro.
