Abu Dhabi Ports secures investment from conglomerate IHC ahead of listing

CTF Services

07/02/2022 16:44

By Yousef Saba
    DUBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi conglomerate IHC  IHC.AD 
has taken a 7.4% stake in Abu Dhabi Ports Group ahead of the
latter's listing on the stock market on Tuesday, an IHC
spokesman told Reuters.
    IHC, through its subsidiary company Al Seer Marine, bought
375 million shares in AD Ports worth 1.2 billion dirhams
($326.74 million) in total, the spokesman said. That would value
AD Ports at 16.3 billion dirhams, according to Reuters
calculations.
    AD Ports, which is owned by sovereign wealth fund ADQ, said
earlier on Monday that it had raised 4 billion dirhams in
proceeds from its primary issuance and would list its shares on
the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2UI2KZ
    AD Ports, which operates ports, logistics and industrial
zones, said the funds raised would be used to grow organically
and via acquisitions, as the company plans to expand both
locally and internationally.
    "The investment in Abu Dhabi Ports Group is crucial for
improving the company's competitiveness and revenue capacity
performance," Al Seer Marine's CEO Guy Neivens told Reuters.
    ADQ said last September that it would list Abu Dhabi Ports
before the end of 2021.
    ADX saw a surge of new listings last year including
companies owned by state-owned oil giant ADNOC and state
investor Mubadala.
    IHC has also announced plans to list six companies on the
stock exchange, including potentially its majority-owned
healthcare firm Pure Health, which has played a key role in
screening for COVID-19 infections in the United Arab Emirates.
    IHC is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the
United Arab Emirates' national security adviser and a brother of
the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
Sheikh Tahnoun is also the chairman of Royal Group, which owns
74% of IHC, and is chairman of ADQ.

($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)

 (Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204; https://twitter.com/YousefSaba))