Abu Dhabi’s first special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) began trading on Friday on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), after raising $100 million in the share sale.
SPACs, or blank-cheque companies, are entities with no commercial operations that trade without business fundamentals.
They are formed with the intention of raising funds, through an initial public offering (IPO), to acquire existing companies.
ADC Acquisition Corporation was launched last April and is the first SPAC (blank check) company in the UAE.
ADQ is a sovereign fund of the Government of Abu Dhabi and was established in partnership with Chimera Investment Group Holdings, a private company in Abu Dhabi.
It aims to focus on businesses that have operations or are based in the UAE or the Middle East and North Africa. The Spac will also look for scalable businesses with revenue streams that are underpinned by growth drivers, the company said.
ADX is the first market in the region to introduce comprehensive listing rules under the newly formed regulatory framework for SPACs issued by the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
According to Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and CEO of ADX, its pipeline of new listings and IPOs remains robust and will introduce more innovative products and services to enhance market liquidity in the coming months.
