NBD Investment Bank to advise Abyaar
Dubai, February 10, 2008
Abyaar Real Estate Development Company has appointed NBD Investment Bank as financial advisor and placement agent.
Once approval has been given by Abyaar’s board members following the annual general meeting, which will be held in March, and the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange, NBD will assist in the sale of 10 per cent of Abyaar’s existing shares to regional investors, the bank said in a statement.
Abyaar is undertaking this secondary listing and share sale to enhance the tradability of its stocks and to provide access to UAE investors - where most of Abyaar’s projects are located, it added.
When completed, Abyaar will be the 14th Kuwait-based company to list on DFM. Its current market capitalisation is around $540 million; Abyaar’s current shareholders have decided to sell 10pc of their shares, which constitutes around $54 million, to regional investors.
Abyaar Real Estate Development Chairman Hisham Abdul Wahab Al Obeid said Abyaar is aiming to be listed after the first half of the current financial year and noted that 2008 represents a new phase for Abyaar, “especially with this listing and the upcoming introduction of new projects we’ve been working on”.
“We are very excited about what’s ahead considering that we are such a young company in this very competitive industry, but we have managed to reach some very important milestones in a short period of time,” he said. “Listing in the DFM is a natural and logical step since most of the company’s projects are in Dubai. We have a high regard towards the UAE investors who will hopefully play a vital role in Abyaar’s success.”
“We are proud to be associated with Abyaar and its reputable shareholders in this transaction. We are pleased that Abyaar, most of whose projects are based in UAE, decided to make Dubai and the DFM its second home,” said NBD Investment Bank CEO Shahzad Shahbaz.
“This transaction represents a unique opportunity for local and regional investors and we are pleased to be able to leverage our regional capabilities to support this deal,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service
