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Adnoc Raises Drilling IPO Size to $1.1 Billion on Heavy Demand

Abu Dhabi Raises Size of Adnoc Drilling’s IPO to $1.1 Billion

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. increased the size of its drilling unit’s initial public offering amid heavy demand for shares in what is likely to be the emirate’s biggest listing in at least four years.

Abu Dhabi’s state oil company will now list 11% of Adnoc Drilling on the local bourse, raising as much as 4.05 billion dirhams ($1.1 billion). It had initially planned to raise $750 million by offering a 7.5% stake. 

The decision was “based on significant oversubscription across all tranches,” Adnoc said, and comes amid an uptick in listings in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. While Riyadh has been the region’s hottest market for listings over the past two years, Abu Dhabi has been trying to revive its local bourse.

The exchange is offering sweeteners that include flexibility on the minimum stake size required for share sales and promising to reduce or forgo listing fees. Its chairman has said the bourse may see at least 10 new listings this year, which would be the most on record. Satellite operator Yahsat kicked off the IPO rush in July, becoming the first listing on the exchange in nearly four years.

Since then, a slew of offerings have been announced. Sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is preparing an IPO of Emirates Global Aluminium and Adnoc is planning to list its fertilizer joint venture as soon as October. Wealth fund ADQ is also preparing to offer shares in Abu Dhabi Ports before the end of the year.

In neighboring Saudi Arabia, a $1.2 billion IPO by ACWA Power is drawing high interest from investors. The listing -- set to be the country’s biggest since Aramco -- had initial demand amounting to several billion dollars and advisers are having to limit allocations to institutional investors.

Saudi Telecom Co. said  Wednesday its internet-services raised $966 million from an IPO, which was multiple times oversubscribed.

Adnoc Drilling offer details:

  • New offering size 1.76 billion shares
  • Offer price of 2.30 dirhams per share remains unchanged
  • Final tranche sizes will be announced on Sept. 27
  • Adnoc will continue to own an 84% stake, Baker Hughes will retain 5% holding
  • Subscription period to UAE retail investors as well as qualified domestic and international institutional investors remains unchanged

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