Borouge starts trading its shares on Abu Dhabi securities exchange

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its strategic partner, Borealis, on Friday announced the listing of the shares of Borouge, their petrochemical joint venture, on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) following the completion of the subscription process for the largest-ever initial public offering in Abu Dhabi, and the largest for any company. Petrochemicals in the Middle East. 

The initial public offering, which generated total revenues of more than $2 billion from offering shares representing 10% of the company’s issued capital, attracted a total demand of more than $83.4 billion, which means that the level of subscription in total exceeded about 42 times the target value.

The coverage of the retail segment exceeded the target value 74 times in the largest percentage of demand in the UAE over the past 20 years from this segment. Borouge’s shares will start trading at $0.67 per share, which means the company’s market value totalled $20.05 billion upon listing. 

Borouge is the fourth company to offer ADNOC part of its shares to the market since 2017, following the successful initial public offerings of ADNOC Distribution, ADNOC Drilling and Fertiglobe.

Largest IPO

In his comments, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Managing Director and CEO of ADNOC, said: “We completed the initial public offering of a minority stake in The shares of Borouge Petrochemical Company, which constituted the largest IPO ever in Abu Dhabi.”

He further said: “This offering witnessed unprecedented demand from individual investors, national investment institutions, and global investors, and this is the fourth offering of a minority stake in one of ADNOC’s subsidiaries. ADNOC continues to support the growth, diversification and development of the financial markets, the national economy and the private sector in the UAE, and to consolidate Abu Dhabi’s position as a distinguished investment destination.”

He added: “The unprecedented success of Borouge’s offering reflects the strength of the national economy and the important position of the UAE in attracting investments and influential companies in the global financial markets. ADNOC will continue to work to expand its investor base and access to capital markets within its program to create and enhance value and provide more opportunities for local investors. As a major shareholder and majority shareholder in Borouge, ADNOC continues its long-term commitment to achieving sustainable growth and rewarding returns for the UAE and our shareholders.”

Future Plans

Borealis CEO Thomas Jungle said: “The exceptional turnout and investor interest in Borouge reflects the company’s attractiveness and successful growth path that it has started with the support of Borealis and ADNOC over the past years. The successful IPO paved the way for the Group’s expansion towards its next milestone, the Borouge 4 project, and will further support its continued efforts to provide diversified and innovative polyolefins solutions.”

Congratulating Borouge for its achievement, Ahmed Jassim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market, said: “Despite the challenges it is witnessing, the great interest of investors in the Borouge IPO demonstrated the potential and the great value of UAE companies to local and international investors.”

“As a global financial centre, we have witnessed a significant increase in the growth of the list of companies registered with us in the Abu Dhabi Global Market who are keen to explore listings in the UAE, to take advantage of the huge demand of local and international investors for our UAE companies,” he added.

ADX Chairman Hisham Khaled Malek said: “Borouge provides a wonderful example of the strong and global partnerships that Abu Dhabi continues to build and strengthen with the best partners in the world.”

Borouge CEO Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi said: “The acceptance of investors at the regional and international levels, in addition to the commitment of the main investors to participate in the offering, is a clear evidence of the strength of the company’s investment projects and our future and strategic plans.”