EFG Hermes completes advisory on Fertiglobe’s $795m IPO on ADX

The IPO is one of the largest ever ADX listings.

EFG Hermes' investment banking division successfully completed advisory on Fertiglobe’s $795 million Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX) — one of the largest ever listings on the bourse and the first ever listing of a free zone company onshore in the UAE.

Fertiglobe, a strategic partnership between Abu Dhabi state energy company Adnoc and OCI NV, listed 1,145,582,011 shares today — representing 13.8 per cent of its share capital — at an offer price of Dh2.55 ($ 0.69) per share, implying a market capitalization of Dh21.2 billion ($ 5.8 billion). UAE retail investors will be allocated a 10 per cent tranche of the offering, with the remaining 90 per cent allocated to institutional investors. The listing was oversubscribed in excess of 22 times in aggregate, with Fertiglobe initiating trading today under the stock symbol “FERTIGLB”.

“We’re honoured to have advised Fertiglobe on its first ADX listing and one of the largest the market has seen in years. Not only does the listing highlight the continued growth of UAE capital markets and foreign institutional investment interest in them, but it capitalizes on improving fertiliser sales driven by a healthy commodities cycle and an interesting and very unique play on Hydrogen,” said Mohamed Fahmi, EFG Hermes’ co-head of Investment Banking.

“In the wake of our successful back-to-back financial advisory on Adnoc Drilling’s milestone IPO on the ADX and ACWA Power’s pivotal offering on Tadawul earlier in October, this listing serves as evidence of our outstanding track record in the GCC as well as our proven ability to close simultaneous transactions across multiple jurisdictions effectively through our wide-ranging network of global institutional investors and dedicated teams on the ground.”

Fertiglobe is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined and the Mena’s largest producer by production capacity at 6.5 million tonnes of urea and merchant ammonia. The company’s activities are a crucial component of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to export hydrogen as it continues to diversify its energy offering. As a leading nitrogen fertiliser producer and distributer, the company is dedicated to its vision of efficiently and responsibly supporting sustainable agriculture. The company provides an effective and environmentally sound source of nitrogen to customers around the world.

OCI NV is expected to continue to own a majority stake in Fertiglobe following the IPO, while Adnoc is expected to own at least 36.2 per cent of Fertiglobe’s share capital following the listing.

2021 has been a landmark year for EFG Hermes’ Investment Banking team, which closed a record 23 transactions so far worth $ 6.1 billion, including 9 ECM transactions alone. Most recently, the division served as joint bookrunner on the Dh4 billion listing of Adnoc Drilling on the ADX; joint bookrunner on the Dh2.7 billion listing of Yahsat on the ADX; sole financial advisor and joint bookrunner on Fawry’s EGP 1.2 billion follow-on sale on the EGX, and joint bookrunner and underwriter on Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies’ $ 144 million IPO on Tadawul.

— business@khaleejtimes.com