Gulf Capital IPO

[sharewadi]

Gulf Capital occasionally publishes reports on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the GCC and Middle East region. The press reported on one yesterday as it happens.

The start up capital seems rather low though. I wonder if that was a misprint on the part of Gulf News. That's only 4000 dhs per shareholder. And with that, they managed to buy 60% of a water treatment company (Metito) with international operations ?

There was mention of a Metito IPO last month, but not until 2010.

Gulf News 01 January 2008:

Gulf Capital to list shares on ADSM in 2009 By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter Abu Dhabi: Regional private equity firm Gulf Capital plans to list its shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM) by the middle of 2009, its chief executive officer said on Monday. "It's mandatory for a private joint stock company to have an average 10 per cent return on equity in the first two years of operations preceding an initial public offering," Karim Al Solh told Gulf News. Immediate measures "We will have to meet this ADSM requirement before we file our prospectus for listing. We should be able to meet the requirement before the middle of 2009," Al Solh said. The source of Gulf Capital's funding is from pension funds, banks, insurance companies, family businesses and from an array of leading businessmen across the Gulf region. Oil and gas, water, construction, telecommunications, education, financial services, logistics and healthcare are among the areas the company has identified for investment for its business growth. Abu Dhabi-based Gulf Capital's current assets include a controlling 60 per cent stake in Sharjah-based Metito, a water desalination and water treatment company. Metito has operations in 20 countries. Gulf Capital was established in May 2006 with a capital base of Dh1.225 million from 300 shareholders in the Gulf.

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[sharewadi]

A brief note today, not saying much that's new about the Gulf Capital Group (GCG) IPO.

Gulf News 28 February 2008:

Gulf Capital to go public next year Dubai - Private equity firm Gulf Capital plans to sell shares in an initial public offering next year to fund expansion, its chief executive said yesterday. The firm, founded in 2006 with a capital of Dh1.2 billion ($333.6 million) would list on the Abu Dhabi Securities market (ADSM), Karim Al Solh said. The company would use the money to fund expansion, possibly through acquisitions, Solh said.

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[smith1111]

Lol it's definitely a misprint. It says in all their other articles that their 2006 capital was 1.2 Billion, not million. As shareholder's equity of a private equity company, that's actually HUGE. It doesnt even take into account the several multi-billion funds that they are/will be managing... should be a good one to keep an eyen on!!

[sharewadi]

Thanks smith. Looks like even AED 1.2 billion isn't the right figure, according to this report of a delayed IPO, Gulf Capital have AED 1.5 billion. Maybe it increased since the last article...

Emirates Business 19 October 2008:

Gulf Capital postpones IPO for the next 18 months By Karen Remo Listana With the credit crisis deepening in the West, Gulf firms who earlier this year rushed to announce their plans to go public are now not so sure about the market. Most have postponed their intentions for an initial public offering (IPO) and Gulf Capital, one of the largest private-equity firms in the Middle East, has become the latest in the pack. The firm, with Dh1.5 billion capital, is delaying its IPO for the next 18 months, its CEO told Emirates Business. "Right now, given the volatilities in the capital market, I don't think it is a good idea to gravitate towards the national markets," Karim El Solh said. "For the next 18 months, things are a bit unclear. There are lots of volatilities so I don't think it is the optimum time. "As we deliver more earnings and profits then we will consider tapping the capital markets and launch an IPO," he said. El Solh in February told the 11th annual Super Return private equity and venture capital conference in Munich that the firm was planning an IPO next year. He said Gulf Capital wanted to move to a main exchange to increase liquidity and gain access to additional capital. Abu Dhabi-based Al Qudra Holding, Emirates Post and Future Pipe Industries Group are some of the others to postpone their IPOs.

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