Massar Solutions to wait and see on Abu Dhabi IPO

Shareholders in Massar Solutions have postponed the initial public offering of the company after an insufficient number of applications was received for the 240 million shares on offer, worth Dh576 million.

“Some investors were unable to submit their applications within the offer period on account of the continued volatility in oil prices, which in turn had an impact on the regional and international capital markets,” read a statement from Massar, agreed with the Securities and Commodities Authority.

Two shareholders – Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and the financial firm Invest AD – own the share capital of Massar, and had intended to sell 20 per cent each to Emirati retail investors and institutions.

It would have been the first IPO on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange since 2011, and the first in the capital in the recent wave of UAE listings, which have come mainly on the Dubai Financial Market.

The IPO will be postponed “until such time as oil prices are more stable”, the statement said. Investors who took up the offer – understood to account for less than 50 per cent of the total offering – will have their cash returned.

Massar added: “A significant interest was expressed from a broad spectrum of sophisticated institutional investors and family offices, who remarked on the robustness of the company’s business model.”

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