Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Two sources said that the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has invited investment banks to promote a planned initial public offering of its gas activities next year.
Bankers familiar with the matter said today, Tuesday, that a request was sent to a select number of banks last week, to submit proposals to act as joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the IPO, to join Goldman Sachs as part of a planned alliance, according to Reuters.
Two other sources told Reuters last month that ADNOC is merging its gas processing arm and its LNG subsidiary into a single listed entity, and has included Goldman Sachs in the deal.
And ADNOC said on November 28 that the merger of the two entities will create one of the largest gas processing companies in the world, with a processing capacity of about 10 billion standard cubic feet per day.
ADNOC plans to give investors a minority stake in the new company through an initial public offering on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange next year.
The Gulf region is seeing a surge in initial public offerings as the governments of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia push state-led listing programmes, driving up oil prices and a relative dearth of such offerings in other markets.
Refinitiv data showed that Gulf issuers raised $18.7 billion through listings this year, accounting for 54 percent of total IPO proceeds from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
