Aabar directed to ask Ipic to modify bid offer

Abu Dhabi: The UAE capital markets regulator, Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), has asked the Abu Dhabi Securities exchange-listed Aabar Investments to coordinate with its majority shareholder, International Petroleum Investment Co (Ipic), to modify its offer to buy the remaining shares in Aabar's capital to Dh1.95 per share.

Aabar's shares shot up 8.28 per cent on the news, closing at Dh1.59 Sunday.

Aabar got approval from SCA for the extraordinary general assembly to convert from a private company into a joint stock company and de-list from the Abu Dhabi bourse. The approval came after the joint committee composed of SCA, Ministry of Economy and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development studied the request. Shares should be offered for the period from July 20 to August 5.

Shareholders who sold their shares during this period should be paid their payable amounts on August 10.

Purchase of shares by Ipic from shareholders who are interested in selling their shares can take place outside trading halls in coordination with Abu Dhabi Securities Market.

The trading should be subject to trading rules and commission applied to trading outside trading halls.

Aabar Investments Chief Executive Officer Mohamad Badawy Al Hussaini was unavailable for comment when reached by Gulf News on his mobile telephone.

Meeting

Aabar will hold its general assembly meeting on August 15 to discuss the issue.

"This is a very positive step to protect minority shareholders. The previous buyback price of Dh1.45 was pretty low. Taking an average price of the stock over three months or six months is much more fair than taking an instant price at a certain point in time," Chahir Hosni, Sales Manager at EFG-Hermes told Gulf News.