Goldman, BofA Said to Give Up Lead Roles on Mega Adnoc Gas IPO - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. have relinquished their lead roles on Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s planned mega initial public offering of its natural gas business, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Adnoc is accelerating the timing of the listing, which is now slated to take place as soon as next month, the people said. HSBC Holdings Plc is now working alongside First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC as a joint global coordinator on the proposed listing after Goldman Sachs and Bank of America dropped off the top line of underwriters, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
The Wall Street banks were unable to work as lead banks on the share sale after the new schedule meant that there wouldn’t be enough time for Adnoc Gas to get audited by a Big Four accounting firm, something they would normally require for large deals, two of the people said. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are still advising Adnoc in other capacities, according to the people.
Representatives for the banks declined to comment.
“With our broad and strong bank syndicate, we are focused on delivering a successful market debut of Adnoc Gas, which will be a highly attractive and compelling investment opportunity in an advanced, progressive energy company,” a representative for Adnoc said. “Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are valued financial advisers who continue to support Adnoc.”
The IPO is set to become one of Abu Dhabi’s biggest listings. The state-owned explorer is combining its liquefied natural gas and gas-processing arms into a new unit called Adnoc Gas and recently named a new chief executive officer for the unit.
Gulf markets rise on China demand optimism | Reuters
Gulf stock markets closed higher on Tuesday on expectations of economic recovery in the world's second largest economy, China, and smaller interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Fed will end its tightening cycle after a 25-basis-point hike at each of its next two policy meetings and then likely hold interest rates steady for at least the rest of the year, according to most economists in a Reuters poll.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, while Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar usually mirror U.S. monetary policy changes.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that China's lifting of COVID-19 restrictions should bring global demand to a record high this year. OPEC also forecast a rebound in Chinese demand.
The benchmark index (.TASI) in Saudi Arabia added 0.3%, lifted by gains in materials, financial and energy sector stocks, with oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) continuing its gains since Monday, rising 0.6%. The world's largest Islamic bank by market capitalization, Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE), rose 0.8%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) rose 0.6%, ending its four session losing streak, with the country's biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) surging 2.7% and real estate developer Aldar Properties (ALDAR.AD) rising 1.3%.
The developer said on Monday that the first phase Of 'The Sustainable City – Yas Island' was sold out within 24 hours, generating over 1 billion dirhams in sales.
Dubai's benchmark index (.DFMGI) bounced back from two sessions of losses, rising 0.4%. The index was lifted by gains in financial and real estate stocks, with Dubai Islamic Bank (DISB.DU) up 2.2% and Mashreqbank climbing 3.1%, while real estate heavyweight Emaar properties (EMAR.DU) added 0.3%.
The Qatari index (.QSI) rose 0.7%, extending its rally since Thursday, with almost all its constituent stocks gaining.
Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) continued its gains with a 2.3% rise and Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB.QA) rose 1.7%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) climbed 1.6%, continuing its rally since Wednesday.
"The Egyptian stock market continued to see a surge in investments from international traders", said Daniel Takieddine, CEO MENA at BDSwiss.
"The index could maintain its uptrend as the country continues to secure financing deals from international institutions".
Egypt has signed a $1.5 billion financing agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation to fund its trading, including imports of energy products and essential commodities.
Dubai hopes to seize private sector listings, boost access to stock exchange | Reuters
Dubai's stock exchange is working on expanding private sector listings and plans to boost access for both institutional and retail investors, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
"Being able to attract the private sector to the market is the key and we think we can," Ali said, adding it was what he and his team spend most of their time on.
Gulf governments have been trying to encourage more family-owned companies to list in a bid to deepen their capital markets, with Saudi Arabia so far seeing the most success.
Dubai, the region's financial hub, saw nearly $8.5 billion in proceeds from five IPOs in 2022, according to Refinitiv data.
Dubai's government has pledged to list 10 state-linked firms to boost stock market activity. Four went public last year: utility firms Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Empower, business park developer Tecom Group and road toll operator Salik .
UAE has 11 IPOs worth $2.2bln in the pipeline – SCA
The UAE has 11 IPOs in the pipeline with a value exceeding AED 8 billion ($2.2 billion) after it saw its highest level of offerings by aggregate value in 2022 since 2008.
Speaking at the inaugural MENA IPO Summit in Dubai, the deputy CEO of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), Mohammed Khalifa Al Hadari, said that 2021 had been a year of recovery, but there had been significant growth in local capital markets in 2022, with the highest level of IPOs by aggregate value since 2008.
“There are 11 new IPOs with a total value exceeding AED 8 billion, including four free zone companies and two SPAC waiting in the pipeline currently,” he said.
“The current flurry of activity is more sustainable than the previous IPO booms as it is part of the wider well defined government strategy to expand diversity to supply the markets.
Major Gulf markets rise as easing recession fears lift risk-on mood | Reuters
Major stock markets in the Gulf opened higher on Tuesday, as easing recession fears and expectations of a less-aggressive rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve improved risk appetite.
The U.S. Fed will end its tightening cycle after a 25-basis-point hike at each of its next two policy meetings and then likely hold interest rates steady for at least the rest of the year, according to most economists in a Reuters poll.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, while Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates usually mirror any monetary policy change in the world's largest economy.
Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) gained 0.3%, strengthened by banking stocks as Islamic lender Dubai Islamic Bank (DISB.DU) rose 1.4%, while real estate heavyweight Emaar properties (EMAR.DU) added 0.5%.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI) edged 0.2% higher, supported by energy shares and financials, as oil behemoth and index heavyweight Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) and the world's largest Islamic lender Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE) gained 0.5% each.
Crude price - a key catalyst for Gulf's financial markets - drifted lower on Tuesday, easing from last week's gains on expectations of fuel demand recovery in the world's top importer China.
The benchmark stock index (.QSI) in Qatar opened 0.2% higher, supported by petrochemical and banking shares, as petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) and Islamic lender Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) jumped 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.
Among other stocks, Aamal Company (AHCS.QA) rose 4.6% after the firm's unit won a contract worth 1.2 billion Qatari riyals ($329.67 million) with Kahramaa.
Abu Dhabi's benchmark index (.FTFADGI) hiked 0.2%, on course to break a four-session losing streak, as real estate developer Aldar Properties (ALDAR.AD) jumped 1.3% and Adnoc's retail unit Adnoc Distribution (ADNOCDIST.AD) gained 0.9%.
Separately, overall growth in the six GCC economies was forecast to average 3.3% and 2.8% this year and next respectively, the Jan. 9-23 poll showed, down from 4.2% and 3.3% in the previous poll.
