Abu Dhabi to Tap Citi, HSBC and First Abu Dhabi Bank for Ethiad Airways IPO - Bloomberg
ADQ has picked advisers including Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and First Abu Dhabi Bank for a potential initial public offering of hub carrier Etihad Airways PJSC, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rothschild & Co. is acting as an independent financial adviser to the Abu Dhabi wealth fund, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. ADQ may add more banks later, the people said.
The fund had previously been weighing a direct listing for Etihad instead of a traditional IPO, the people said. A share sale will create the first publicly-traded major Gulf hub carrier and could come as soon as this year, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The final lineup of advisers may still change. No final decisions have been made on the timing of the sale, the people said.
Representatives for Etihad, ADQ, Citigroup and HSBC declined to comment. Rothschild and FAB didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The airline is working to be ready for an IPO whenever the shareholder decides the time is right, Etihad Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves said in a CNBC interview this week. Neves didn’t offer any details or confirmation on a potential IPO, saying that the decision was for ADQ.
The Persian Gulf has been in the midst of an IPO boom since late 2021 as governments sold stakes in state-owned firms to fund the transition from fossil fuels, and high oil prices buoyed regional stock markets. International investors have also shown a growing interest in the region.
An Etihad listing would be another example of the United Arab Emirates using its national champions to boost the domestic stock market and to diversify the economy away from oil. Ownership of the airline was transferred to ADQ from Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs in 2022, part of an effort to boost the sheikhdom’s status as a transport hub.
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