Ajman Bank IPO

[sharewadi]

[edit] Additional Ajman Bank topics

Ajman Bank - added to SW database

Ajman Bank listing date - expected to be mid-May 2008
Ajman Bank analysis - profit forecast and share price estimates
Ajman Bank opening share price - poll
Ajman Bank IPO - how many shares will I get?
Ajman Bank IPO 60x oversubscribed R 02 Mar 08[/edit]

[edit] Ajman Bank IPO prospectus available online now - (PDF download, 124 pages), and subscription form (pdf download)[/edit]

Er, I see. An announcement to announce an announcement scheduled to be announced next week ...

Ajman Bank IPO (AJMANBANK) or Ajman Islamic Bank(AIB)? - open to UAE nationals apparently. 25% of total capital will be IPOed

[edit] Ajman IPO open to foreign investors also - read further posts below. IPO subscription dates from 17-27 Feb 2008. IPO amount is 55% of total capital. [/edit]

Reuters 07 February 2008:

Ajman Bank to announce IPO Ajman Bank, a sharia-compliant initiative by the emirate of Ajman, plans to give details of its initial public offering on Monday as it seeks to create what would be the UAE’s seventh Islamic lender. Ajman, the second-smallest member of the UAE federation by population, last year won initial approval from the UAE central bank to set up the lender with share capital of about Dh2 billion ($544.7 million), Al-Bayan newspaper reported in March, without saying how it got the information. Ajman government will put up 25 per cent of the capital and raise the rest through an IPO open to UAE citizens, the newspaper said. HSBC Holdings is advising on the IPO. "We will make an official announcement on Monday," Yousif Khalaf, the bank's chief executive officer told Reuters on Thursday, declining to the give further details. Khalaf was previously CEO of Bahrain Islamic Bank. The bank's communications advisers, FD, on Tuesday invited media to a Monday briefing "to announce the IPO of a new UAE-based bank." It did not give details. UAE bank assets that comply with Islamic law – including a ban on the receipt of interest – are growing at a faster rate than for conventional assets as demand for belief-based financial services surges, according to bankers, including Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance CEO Aref al-Khouri. Noor Islamic Bank (NIB), which is 25 per cent owned by the government of Dubai and 25 per cent by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, started operations last month as the UAE's sixth Islamic lender. Abu Dhabi plans to start operations of its sharia-compliant Al Hilal Bank in June. Ajman is a family-ruled emirate with a population of about 300,000.

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[Drake]

Not sure its the right time to release an IPO - but you never know, it might end up being X number times over-subscribed.

AMEInfo 11 February 2008:

The Offering is for 550m ordinary shares, or 55% of the total shares of the Bank. The minimum subscription will be for 2000 shares at Dhs1 per share, in addition to Dhs0.02 per share in administrative costs. Investors can subscribe for shares by picking up subscription forms at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Noor Islamic Bank. Following the Offering and the completion of the incorporation process, the Bank will apply to list its Shares on the Dubai Financial Market. The Offering is open to UAE and non-UAE individual and institutional subscribers as per the terms and conditions mentioned herein. 5% of the Offer Shares (27.5 million Offer Shares) will be subscribed for and allocated to the Ministry of Finance and Industry. Non-UAE Subscribers, including Subscribers from countries in the GCC, will be allocated up to 100 million Offer Shares. The balance of the Offer Shares (422.5 million Offer Shares) will be allocated to UAE Subscribers. The Offering will start on 17 February 2008 and is expected to close on 27 February 2008.

[Mpower]

Interesting Scenario, the last time Ajman tried to launch an IPO for a so called Tire Company, it never took off and refunded the IPO amount after almost a year or so.

The IPO was priced at Dhs 10 at that point of time, However Ajman is in a much better financial, economic and growth stage at this point of time and looks to drive its economy further with huge projects in terms of Airport, Hotels, Islands, Real Estate and it is certainly improving its infrastructure day by day, the spill over of Dubai has certainly put Ajman on the investors Map.

Ajman has certainly shouldn't the way in terms of northern emirate leading the way. I believe the IPO is certainly worth subscribing, looking at a return of 20 to 25% in 3 months time from the time it is listed on DFM.

Mpower

[sharewadi]

Dubai Eye's Business Breakfast just had an interview with someone from Ajman Bank, I didn't catch the name or position but it sounded like it was probably the chairman or CEO. I didn't hear anything particularly revealing. There was a comment on listing date, possibly April 2008?

zawya.com should have the interview available later today, to listen online.

From a fundamental point of view, Ajman Bank is unproven, and there's no information with which to do calculations. Which in itself seems odd. I thought ESCA had a regulation that companies had to have 2 years worth of financial accounts from operations before they could apply for an IPO ?

And once the company lists, how actively will the stock be traded? Apart from Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), the other listed emirate-based banks are relatively illiquid, for example

Sharjah Islamic Bank (NBS)
National Bank of Fujairah (NBQ)
National Bank of Umm Al Quwain (NBQ)
RAK Bank (RAKBANK)

I guess for a quick profit on listing day, Ajman Bank shares may be worth a punt but any gains may be outweighed by finance costs for leverage, and I'm not very hopeful there will be any gains anyway. In the longer term, I can't form an opinion until there's more information available.

Good luck punters . I'm going to be a spectator for this one unless more information comes to light.

[indigo]

Any idea if its working company with any branches atms account holders & website. I tried googling and no luck.

Paying 1 dhms. for a non existing entity? People were scared of a well established company like Air Arabia.

I see no future for this. Even if its subscribed (power of rich sheikhs) and listed i can buy it at 0.2 dhms when its listed less the hassle of locking in my money....

[Mpower]

Dear Sharewadi,

Before Sharewadi and dubai share talk existed, a majority of companies were subscribed at an initial price of Dhs 10/- per share thats how Emaar tabreed etc and some other companies ended up doing the split.

To give more shareholders access to shares, ESCA decided to price them at a base price of dhs 1.

Tadawul on the other hand doesn't allow shares to be split, 10:1 or 100: 10, if that was the case, share prices would fly out of the roof.

Mpower

[sharewadi]

[sharewadi]

[investor]

There is negative sentiment for IPO these days (DPW WORLD, RELIANCE POWER). I feel people applying for the IPO would end up getting nearly close to the subscribed shares so if its long term investment MAYBE it is a good investment but I have a funny feeling the price after listing would be more attractive.

Cons
- Bank does not exist
- Money getting locked up
- Secondary market will look more attractive once the IPO finishes.

Pros
- Listing in DFM
- Offer @ 1AED (+.02fils)
- Ajman as an emirate is growing

After my DP World experience I have to think twice.

SW, Can we have a poll on this !!


Cheers

[sharewadi]

[investor]

[utopia02]

Hi all

I have been looking for the web address of Ajman Bank but no luck so far. Anyone with an insight on how can subscription be made from overseas. And any ideas from where to access the prospectus.

Thanks all.

[sharewadi]

[utopia02]

Hi Sharewadi

Thanks a lot.

I am sure it would have taken many unsuccessful web hits to find the info you have passed onto me so easily.

Thanks again.

[indigo]

1 Billion Dhms.

That will be good money to invest in some reliable stock markets...

[sharewadi]

> utopia: You're welcome .
> indigo: Good point .

Ajamn Bank IPO (AIB) opened today. I see the prospectus in the Gulf News now has the correct website. Press release doesn't say much that isn't already known I guess. Expected DFM listing date in Q2 2008.

I still don't see anything concrete in the press release that indicates what AIB are going to do, except for the impressive sounding ambition of becoming the bank of choice in the UAE and GCC. What do the established banks like DIB, ADIB think of that I wonder?

I'll have to go and find a prospectus and have a look. It still doesn't appear to be available online .

I don't know if the ticker for Ajman Islamic Bank will be AIB, my guess is based on the tickers for all other Islamic banks having IB except for Sharjah, but that was because it used to be called National Bank of Sharjah and only changed its name after listing on the ADSM.

Press Release 17 February 2008:

Ajman Bank Dhs550m public share offer opens today Ajman Bank PJSC (under formation) ('Ajman Bank' or the 'Bank') today announced the opening of its public offer for Dhs550m of its ordinary shares. The shares are priced at Dhs1 each, with a minimum subscription of 2000 shares and is open to UAE and non-UAE investors. Upon completion of the Offer, Ajman Bank's shares will be listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the second quarter of 2008. Subscription forms and the Prospectus are available from the following banks: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB); Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB); Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB); Noor Islamic Bank (NIB), Dubai Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank (NBS). Ajman Bank will be the first Shariah bank incorporated and headquartered in the Emirate of Ajman and it intends to become the favourite financial services brand in the UAE and the GCC region. The Bank's strategy is to target the rapidly expanding Shariah financial services market with innovative products and services, designed to meet customers' needs, supported with outstanding levels of customer service. Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman and Chairman of Ajman Bank, commented, 'The creation of Ajman Bank is a central part of the economic development plans for Ajman. A new bank, offering a creative way of serving consumer and business customers' needs, for both Ajman and the UAE, will drive the growth of investment and commerce into Ajman and across the UAE, helping to support the overall development of the UAE as well as creating long-term value for investors and shareholders.' Yousif Khalaf, CEO of Ajman Bank, said, 'Our vision is to become the UAE's favourite financial services brand. We believe that this is a long-term vision which can be created by differentiating ourselves through offering customers outstanding levels of service. Ajman Bank will be based on Shariah principles but we intend to target the whole of the financial services market, making our innovative products and services and unparalleled customer service available to all. The public offer is an opportunity for investors to be part of our long-term vision of creating investor value through changing the way banking services are created and delivered in the UAE, and ultimately, the GCC. It will also build upon the support Ajman Bank already has from the 25% shareholding held by the Government of Ajman, in addition to 20% held by financial institutions and private investors.' HSBC Middle East is acting as financial advisor and Lead Manager to the Bank.

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[farhadcub]

i am a bit doubtful about this IPO...

you are right SW..me too wondering what other banks think about AIB... my main concern was that when AIRARABIA went IPO lot of people got high allotment and i actually heard people saying that it might open below dh 1...althought at that point AIRARABIA was an existing company ..

now here we have AIB with no branches nothing and I have not heard of them hiring anyone as yet..so it might be long before they start operating... I know that AIB is a different industry then AIRARABIA but i was actually comparing the background of both these companies ...it seems that the main objective of AIB would be to start financing houses in ajman..is this by itself enough in generating money?
any other thoughts?
thanks and good luck to all..

[Sher]

I don't know if I missed some posts on this IPO topic but I was waiting to see some comments on a point mentioned by SW somewhere - which made me think whether it is possible to list on DFM without having a company history, operating records, audited results for atleast a year and so on.

I am wondering what could drive the sentiment in favour. Maybe own history is not important, the trend of similar banks is good enough to compare the potential growth ?

Anyway it will be interesting to see in this topic some daily update on how the IPO is doing with respect to subscriptions if such info is available.

[bio4jaa]

Good point Sher,

How could DFM allow an etity to get listed without a track record....

Also, I have a feeling that Ajman Bank will face the fate similar to Emirates Islamic Bank. EIB is still at 1.15? and there is no trading at all. I dont think speculators will rush to this stock for sometime to come..

I would clearly stay away from taking any leverage on this stock, if you have access cash you could certainly consider, but again you coould always buy them cheap once it gets listed..

Cheers
Bio

[sharewadi]

I have made an error. I was half right though. This from the DFM website...

DFM 17 February 2008:

The conditions for listing shares of public joint stock companies incorporated in UAE is classified into 2 categories: first class and second class depending on their situation.

DFM 17 February 2008:

I. First class listings requirements: - The company should have been incorporated for not less than two years with financial statements issued for each year and audited by an auditor registered in the schedule of working auditors and authorized to audit the accounts of joint stock companies.

DFM 17 February 2008:

II. Second class listing requirements: Such classification is suitable for companies which conditions for the first class are not applicable.

[farhadcub]

[utopia02]

Hello to all

Ajman Bank IPO!!!! a very interesting case. Is there no law in UAE which says that a company without any track record cannot apply for IPO???

Is there any underwriter to this issue???

At least its capital will not be coming from conventienal banks which is a must for Islamic bank so i consider that bodes well for AIB.

As for investment strategy, i consider splitting my funds into IPO and Post IPO so as to bring average cost down in case it opens below 1 AEd and in case if it opens above 1 AED then i plan to gain on half the investment.

ANy other calls???

[snowflake]

IMO The IPO is worth subscribing to or buying after listing because, specially in the gulf, the government is not willing to participate in on companies that are not bound to be successful and 25% government share is good enough for me.

I have called HSBC up to see if it will be possible to subscribe for the IPO through its Bahraini branch or Kuwaiti branch and I think, from what I understood, that it is not possible.

I have also called Mubasher to ask if I would be able to subscribe for the IPO from overseas since I already have an account with them but they said they still dont have instructions on whether that will be possible or not.

Can anyone shed any light on whether it is allowed to subscribe without going to UAE? from Bahrain or Kuwait?

[sharewadi]

[sharewadi]