Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc Moves Towards Shipping Unit IPO

(Bloomberg) —

Abu Dhabi’s main energy company has hired Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC to work on potentially listing its shipping unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

An initial public offering of Adnoc Logistics & Services could come as soon as the first half of next year, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Moelis & Co. has been tapped as financial adviser and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. may mandate more banks for the listing, they said.

Deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions on the timeframe have been taken, the people said. Details such as valuation and size of sale were not immediately available. 

Representatives for Adnoc, Citigroup, JPMorgan, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Moelis declined to comment.

The IPO frenzy that’s been sweeping through the Middle East all year is still running hot, with deals attracting solid investor demand and more companies joining the queue to go public. With $16.6 billion raised so far, Middle Eastern IPOs are set for their best year on record after 2019.

Adnoc Logistics — which has more than 200 vessels transporting crude oil, refined products, dry bulk, containerized cargo, liquefied petroleum gas and LNG — has been expanding its fleet to cope with increased demand from growth in the state-owned firm’s upstream and downstream businesses. 

Its IPO will feed into the ambitions of OPEC’s third-biggest producer to list more businesses and raise funds for expansion. 

Adnoc pumps almost all the oil and natural gas in the UAE and wants to be able to produce 5 million barrels a day by 2025 — sooner than a previously disclosed aim of 2030, Bloomberg has reported. Meanwhile, the firm has raised billions of dollars by listing its fertilizer and drilling units, and a plastics venture called Borouge.

–With assistance from Anthony Di Paola.

© 2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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