DUBAI: Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is in discussions with four companies about listing on the index, with two potentially taking place before the end of the year, ADX Chief Executive Rashed Al Baloushi said yesterday.
Should the listings go ahead, they would the first on the exchange since 2009.
New flotations on the bourse had been held back by low investor confidence after the index slumped in the wake of the global financial crisis and a local real estate crash, as well as an unfavourable regulatory regime that pushed Abu Dhabi companies to seek listings in London.
But with the economy of the wider United Arab Emirates, of which Abu Dhabi is the largest constituent, rebounding and the ADX recovering ground lost after the crash, sentiment has improved to the point where new listings are possible.
“We are cooperating with other companies that we know are going to go public. We are expecting a couple of them to be listed on the ADX before the end of this year,” Baloushi told reporters on the sidelines of an investment event in Dubai.
Baloushi wouldn’t be drawn on the names of the four companies with which it is holding talks, though he said that the two that could list this year are in the financial sector.
One of these could be private equity firm Gulf Capital, which has mandated Bank of America-Merrill Lynch to arrange a share sale on the ADX before the end of the year, according to banking sources. However, the sources weren’t aware if Gulf Capital inrtends to list itself or one of its funds.
Reuters
