UAE’s main oil company Adnoc raised its initial public offering (IPO) to 5 percent of the company’s shares from 4 percent, in the biggest share sale this year aimed at raising about $2.5 billion.
“Its decision to increase the size of the offering is based on strong demand from investors in all tranches,” the UAE company said in a statement, adding that this means that “the value of the offering will be approximately from $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.”
The company’s shares were sold last Thursday in the first hour of the subscription period.
The company will sell 3.84 billion shares, which is 5 percent of its total name. The volume of shares offered to retail investors increased to 12 percent of the total subscription, while the employee tranche was increased to 4 percent.
Thursday’s price range for the offer shares was set at “between 2.25 and 2.43 dirhams per share”, meaning the company was valued at between $47 billion and $50.8 billion. The final offering price will be determined on the third of March.
Listing and trading on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) will begin on March 13.
Read: ADNOC Gas IPO
According to Bloomberg Finance, only $1.67 billion has been raised in IPOs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa so far this year.
ADNOC Gas’ IPO is the largest ever in Abu Dhabi, surpassing the $2 billion IPO of chemical company Borouge in mid-2022.
It is also the latest in a series of equity listings in the Persian Gulf as governments seek to finance the transition away from fossil fuels and attract more foreign investors to their markets.
Prior to the IPO, ADNOC transferred 5 percent of ADNOC Gas to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy producer.
ADNOC Gas expects a dividend of $3.25 billion for 2023. It has a production capacity of 10 billion cubic feet per day across eight onshore and offshore sites and a pipeline network of more than 3,250 kms.
For more on ADNOC, click here.
