Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is expected to see more dual-listing of UAE-based companies that are already listed on the London Stock Exchange, according to Rashed Al Baloushi, chief executive officer at ADX.
Three Abu Dhabi-based companies, which are NMC Health, Al Noor Hospitals, and Gulf Marine Services, are currently listed in London, and Al Baloushi said he expected most of them to dual-list on ADX.
“There are companies from Abu Dhabi that are listed on the London Stock Exchange, and we talked to them, and we see positive feedback, so we’re going to see these companies coming back as dual-listing on ADX. Most of them have agreed,” he said.
Dr B.R. Shetty, founder and chairman of Abu Dhabi-based NMC Health told Gulf News he was, indeed, planning to dual list on ADX.
While he did not disclose details about the listing, Shetty said he was awaiting the approval of the board of the directors, and that the listing, set for the first half of this year, is expected to add value to the company.
Both Al Noor Hospitals and Gulf Marine Services declined to comment on the issue when contacted by Gulf News.
Meanwhile, ADX’s Al Baloushi discussed new Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the market, saying that Massar Solutions will list in February.
“There’s another company, [and] we are ready for it to go public. It’s just a matter of the announcement by the company, and we’re going to see these two on the pipeline. The bond market is one of the main pillars for our strategy in 2015, and we would like to have a bond market either traded as dual listing or first listing,” he said.
The CEO was speaking to reporters at the ninth Gulf Cooperation Council Regulators’ Summit, which was held in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Al Baloushi also participated in a panel discussion where he said that ADX has seen an increase in its number of investors, with 19,251 investors having been issued licenses to trade in 2014. The figure marks an increase from the 2013 figure of 15,885.
“When it comes to shares owned by foreign investors, we have seen at the end of 2014 Dh37 billion worth of shares compared to 2013 when [the figure] was Dh34 billion,” he said, adding that the MSCI upgrade was a large factor in attracting foreign investors.
Discussing the expected impact of Saudi’s stock market opening up to foreign investors, he said the move will shed light on GCC markets, which will see growth, and that Gulf markets will be affected positively as a result of increased cash flow to the Kingdom.
Al Baloushi added that ADX is in talks to enhance cooperation with the London Stock Exchange, and that this year will see a “radical change” with regards to harmonisation between markets.
