Rothschild to advise tobacco maker Al Fakher on strategic options - sources

Rothschild & Co SCA

21/03/2023 11:32

By Hadeel Al Sayegh
       DUBAI, March 21 (Reuters) - The owner of Dubai-based
tobacco business Al Fakher has hired Rothschild & Co to advise
it on strategic options, including a possible initial public
offering, two sources familiar with the matter said.
    An IPO would take place in the region, either on Saudi
Arabia's Tadawul or the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the
sources said.
    Al Fakher is owned by Advanced Inhalation Rituals, a private
company that is majority owned by London-based Kingsway Capital.
    Rothschild and AIR declined to comment.
    Al Fakher, which was founded in 1999, makes flavoured shisha
molasses sold in more than 100 countries, according to its
website.
    Middle East companies bucked global trends last year to
raise about $22 billion through IPOs, according to Dealogic,
which was more than half the total for the wider Europe, Middle
East and Africa region.

 (Writing and additional reporting by Yousef Saba, editing by Ed
Osmond)
 ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204; https://twitter.com/YousefSaba))