Business | Investment
Al Qudra delays IPO plan
Abu Dhabi-based Al Qudra Holding said on Sunday it was delaying what would have been the UAE's second-largest initial public offering, a $1 billion sale to finance expansion.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:47 March 3, 2008
Dubai: Abu Dhabi-based Al Qudra Holding said on Sunday it was delaying what would have been the UAE's second-largest initial public offering, a $1 billion sale to finance expansion.
Qudra, which has 30 units in industries including real estate and infrastructure, is delaying the sale from this week until later this year to take advantage of a possible change in the law allowing firms to sell less than 55 per cent, it said in a statement.
The company was planning to offer 55 per cent and initially seeking to raise Dh3.7 billion ($1.01 billion), chairman Salah Al Shamsi told shareholders at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on February 19.
Share capital
The sum was equivalent to 25 per cent of the company's share capital. Investors could pay for the remainder of the sale later, Shamsi said at the time.
Given "the recent discussions around the revised companies' law, allowing for UAE institutions to offer less than 55 per cent through an initial public offering ... Al Qudra's board of directors has elected to capitalise on this opportunity and postpone the offering to a later date during 2008," the company said in a statement.
Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital is advising Qudra on the IPO.
More from Investment
More from Business
Business Editor's choice
-
DFSA chief to step down in September
Executive has been at post since 2008
-
Geepas idea blossomed in Dubai
The journey led from a small shop in Bahrain to a $1.27b company in the UAE
