Abu Dhabi's planned merger between exhibitions company ADNEC and hotel operator ADNH dropped

Dubai: Abu Dhabi will not be seeing one mega merger happen.

The holding company for some of Abu Dhabi’s blue-chip enterprises, ADQ, has decided not to go ahead with the merger proposal between ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Co. and which it owns) and ADNH, Abu Dhabi National Hotels.

The only detail that was put out by ADQ was that it will no longer pursue the transaction, which it had first mooted on June 9.

Abu Dhabi has been host to a series of mega merges in the last five years, and which gathered further speed in the last 18-24 months. The consolidation process started with the banking and energy sectors, and have since extended to utility (with TAQA leading the way), in building materials (with Arkan and Emirates Steel involved) and even in the foodstuffs space (with Agthia at its centre).

It was just recently that ADNEC sought a more direct role in crafting the emirate’s tourism strategy, by launching a new company Tourism 365. The plan is to rollout ‘experiential’ travel opportunities for tourists to the emirate.