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A subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ has announced its intention to make a voluntary conditional cash offer to acquire up to 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Dubai-listed courier firm Aramex that is not already held by Abu Dhabi Ports Co.
Shareholders of Aramex, excluding Abu Dhabi Ports Co., who decide to accept the offer will be entitled to receive 3 dirhams ($0.82) per share, which represents a premium of 33% to last share price of AED 2.25 per share as of January 9 2025, a bourse filing said.
The offer will be launched via Q Logistics Holding LLC, a unit of ADQ. It has no shares in Aramex while Abu Dhabi Ports, which is itself 75.42% owned by ADQ owns 22.69% of the shares in Aramex.
Aramex will discuss the offer at a board meeting on Wednesday, January 15.
Aramex opened at AED2.65 per share on Monday, up 14.7%, according to DFM data.
Toka El Wazery, an analyst at Arqaam Securities said the recent news is very positive as it offers shareholders a decent premium to Aramex' 3-months volume-weighted average price (>30%). "The acquisition would enable the offeror to engage in a financial and strategic transformation for the company’s operations which had been on a downtrend since FY 2019."
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)