(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)

LONDON  - Abu Dhabi’s four-year initial public offering famine is over. Yahsat, the satellite company owned by state investment company Mubadala, said on Friday that it would raise $730 million in a float that values its equity at 6.7 billion dirhams ($1.8 billion). Mubadala is selling a 40% stake in the business.

Although Yahsat marks the first major IPO on the Abu Dhabi bourse since 2017, it seems likely to be the first of many. Mubadala is also eyeing a possible float of Emirates Global Aluminium. Abu Dhabi National Oil could also list its drilling business and a fertiliser joint venture, according to a Bloomberg report.

Still, Yahsat is setting a high bar. The IPO gives the company an enterprise value of 8 times its $233 million 2020 EBITDA. That’s far higher than $2.6 billion French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications, which trades at less than 6 times according to Refinitiv data. It also has a higher EBITDA margin. Yahsat has kicked off a trend, but it’ll be a hard one to follow.

 

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(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)

(Editing by Liam Proud and Sharon Lam) ((SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS: http://bit.ly/BVsubscribe))