Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and Australian chemicals producer Borealis AG plan to sell a 10 percent stake in their petrochemical joint venture in an initial public offering (IPO), the latest in a string of successful regional listings to push ahead even as volatility rocks global markets.
The state-owned energy company and Borealis AG will sell 3 billion shares in the Abu Dhabi IPO of Borouge, they said in a statement, without disclosing a price range.
The sale could raise about $2 billion and value the unit that makes specialty plastics for manufacturing and consumer goods at roughly $20 billion, Bloomberg News reported in April.
The Middle East IPO boom has continued to gather steam even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hawkish central banks and soaring inflation have put a lid on share sales in the rest of the world.
The region has largely dodged the turbulence, buoyed by high oil prices and significant equity inflows into Gulf markets.
In April, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) began trading on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), listing 9 billion shares – representing 18 percent of its share capital – at a price of AED 2.48 per share, implying a market capitalisation of $33.76bn (AED124bn) and making it the largest company on the DFM.
Energy companies in the region are stepping up efforts to list assets, looking to draw in global investors and support the shift to a post-oil economy.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been leading the way in this drive, with the IPO of oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019 and the sale of stakes in various ADNOC units.
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