Abu Dhabi: The Founders Committee of Insurance House announced yesterday the successful completion of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), adding that an overall share capital of Dh120 million has been collected in full.
“The IPO of Insurance House has broken the deadlock in the struggling UAE IPO market since more than two and a half years, and achieved outstanding success under very difficult circumstances caused by the political situation and the region’s economic recession, in addition to the sharp downturn in the stock market during the subscription period,” Mohammad Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Insurance House Founders Committee said in a statement.
Al Qubaisi added: “The coverage of this IPO reflects the confidence of a significant segment of investors in our project.”
Though the IPO was limited to UAE nationals, the company intends to open its shareholding to foreign ownership as soon as the shares are listed in the market.
“The company is currently completing the allocation procedures that will be finalised on March 23, 2011,” said Insurance House.
Success
Commenting on the development, Mohammad Ali Yasin, chief investment officer of CAPM Investment, told Gulf News that the promoters of the IPO were looking to raise Dh66 million and have succeeded in raising that amount at a time when the regional equity markets are experiencing high volatility.
“I believe this will probably encourage other companies to come forward with their own IPOs,” Yasin added.
The principle founder of Insurance House is Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed company Finance House.
The IPO, which closed on March 9, consists of 55 per cent of the company’s authorised share capital of Dh120 million.
The founder’s share of capital of Dh54 million (or 45 per cent of capital) has been subscribed with Finance House taking 36 per cent of the company.
The share price for the company was set at Dh1.00 with a subscription fee of 3.5 fils per share.
Insurance House shares are to be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange at a later stage.