The market capitalization of UAE stock markets will approach the $953 billion (AED 3.5 trillion) mark following the listing of ADNOC Gas on the Abu Dhabi bourse on March 13, WAM news agency reported Sunday.
The market cap of domestic listed companies reached $896.1 billion (AED 3.3 trillion) at the end of Friday’s trading session and is estimated to hit $945.6 billion (AED 3.473 trillion) at the beginning of Monday's trading with the debut of ADNOC Gas on the exchange.
State-owned energy firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has raised about $2.5 billion from the initial public offering (IPO) of its gas subsidiary, making it the largest listing this year in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The listing of ADNOC Gas will also raise the market value of the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) from $735.7 million (AED 2.7 billion) at the end of last Friday's session to $785.3 million (AED 2.884 billion).
The UAE bourse markets have been attracting IPOs in a move aimed to strengthen its position at the regional and global level. This comes in line with the UAE's plan to double its market value to $1.6 billion (AED 6 trillion) over the coming years.
ADNOC set the final price for its IPO at $0.7 (AED 2.4) per share due to robust demand, valuing the company at about $50 billion. The IPO price range was previously between $0.6 (AED 2.3) to $0.7 (AED 2.4) apiece.
The company sold over 3.8 billion shares, about 5% of its total issued share capital, with the book-building drawing strong demand from local, regional, and international investors, generating orders of more than $124 billion. The IPO was “significantly oversubscribed” about 50 times.
In November last year, ADNOC said it would combine its gas processing business and liquefied natural gas (LNG) subsidiary into a single unit—ADNOC Gas—which was launched on January 1.
ADNOC Gas later said it would be able to produce about 10 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day across eight onshore and offshore sites.
ADNOC will continue to own a majority 90% stake in ADNOC Gas after listing. The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), which ranks 10th on Forbes Middle East’s Top 100 Companies in the Middle East 2022 list, said last month it acquired a 5% stake in the new ADNOC unit.
ADNOC Gas’ listing would surpass Borouge, another ADNOC subsidiary that was listed on the ADX June last year, the state-owned oil giant said.
