Thursday, Jul 03, 2014
0630 GMT [Dow Jones]--The question on the Arabtec stake owned by Hasan Ismaik, its former CEO, still remains after the company clarified about its business strategy and Abu Dhabi government-owned Aabar's continued support for the construction firm. "We are yet to know of what transpires with regards to Hasan Ismaik's 28.85% stake [still the largest single shareholder] in the company," says analyst at Naeem Holding. Notes, previous reports suggest that Mr. Ismaik has some offers for his stake, but was holding out for more than double its current value. "Now with Aabar being mentioned of "studying" to increase its stake in the company, it could be one of the interested parties looking to buy Mr. Ismaik's stake," the analyst reckons. Notes Aabar/IPIC now control 66% of Arabtec's board membership (previously 50%), in spite of the much lower official stake ownership of 18.94%. (nikhil.lohade@wsj.com; Twitter: @wsjmideast)
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-07-14 0646GMT
