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Abu Dhabi's state-owned holding company ADQ plans to list Abu Dhabi Ports Co., its fully owned ports and logistics operator, on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) after selling a portion of existing shares to investors in the UAE.
In a statement on Tuesday, ADQ said the proposed listing is currently expected to occur before the end of 2021, subject to market conditions.
It did not disclose the number of shares that it would divest.
ADQ, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Development Holding Co, is an Abu Dhabi government-owned company that manages $110 billion in assets and has investments in a broad portfolio of businesses, including the companies that operate Abu Dhabi Ports, Abu Dhabi Airport, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and major industrial assets such as Emirates Steel.
For the year ended 31 December 2020, Abu Dhabi Ports reported revenues of 3.4 billion dirhams, ($926 million), 24 percent higher compared with 2019. Its EBITDA grew by 37 percent to 1.5 billion dirhams in 2020. The port operator’s asset base was 24.8 billion dirhams as of 31 December 2020, the statement added.
In April, S&P Global Ratings assigned 'A+' long-term issuer credit rating with stable outlook and 'gcAAA' Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regional scale rating to AD Ports.
Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chief Executive Officer, ADQ, commented: “With 14 listings already in 2021, ADX is an ideal choice to give investors access to a high quality, high growth potential maritime and logistics leader due to its growing liquidity and resiliency.”
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
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