ADES Holding Seeks to Raise $1.2b from IPO in Tadawul

ADES Holding Seeks to Raise $1.2b from IPO in Tadawul
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ADES Holding Seeks to Raise $1.2b from IPO in Tadawul

ADES Holding Seeks to Raise $1.2b from IPO in Tadawul

Oil and gas driller ADES Holding, backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, began marketing its initial public offering on Sunday, seeking 12.50 riyals ($3.33) to 13.50 riyals a share.

ADES plans to raise as much as 4.6 billion riyals ($1.2 billion) from the public-share sale.

The total stake being offered is 30% of the company.

ADES IPO is set to be Saudi Arabia’s biggest, according to Bloomberg.

The book-building process for this IPO is open from Sept. 10-14.

The public share sale would comprise 338.7 million ordinary shares, resulting in a free float of 30 percent after the sale of a mix of existing and newly issued shares.

The company is selling 237.1 million new shares in the IPO.

Selling shareholders PIF, ADES Investments Holdings and Zamil Group Investment will collectively sell 101.6 million existing shares in proportion to their shareholding.

ADES will also issue 237,103,128 new shares.

EFG Holding’s EFG Hermes, Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and SNB Capital are financial advisers and global coordinators for the IPO.

ADES is a leading oil and gas drilling and production services provider in the Middle East and North Africa region. It has a fleet of 85 rigs and operations across seven countries, including India where three rigs will be operating this year, according to its website.

The company’s revenue from contracts with customers reached SAR 1.98 billion in the first half of the year compared to SAR 2.5 billion during FY 2022.

The company’s total backlog as of 30 June 2023 is SAR 27.6 billion.



Gold Poised for Biggest Weekly Fall in over Five Months on Dollar Strength

FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
TT

Gold Poised for Biggest Weekly Fall in over Five Months on Dollar Strength

FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

Gold prices dropped on Friday, poised for their steepest weekly decline in over five months, pressured by a stronger dollar and as markets absorbed the implications of Donald Trump's victory and its potential impact on US interest rate expectations.

Spot gold fell 0.6% to $2,690.62 per ounce as of 9:50 a.m. ET (1450 GMT), and was down 1.6% for the week.

US gold futures shed 0.3% to $2,697.90.

The dollar index gained 0.3%, on track for a weekly gain, Reuters reported

"In the last month, the story has been the uncertainty risk of the election and if there was going to be normalisation of transition, but this election appeared to be very decisive on the White House," said Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold.

"A lot of risk-on assets started benefiting in terms of the potential future implication of policies, so we had money go out of metals into these alternatives."

The Federal Reserve on Thursday cut interest rates by 25 basis points, but indicated a cautious approach to further cuts.

Trump's victory has fuelled questions about whether the Fed may proceed to cut rates at a slower and smaller pace, given the former president's tariff policy.

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the election results would have no "near-term" impact on monetary policy.

The prospect of rate cuts, starting with the half basis point reduction in September, has underpinned gold's record rally this year.

Although bullion is reputed as a hedge against inflation, higher interest rates reduce non-yielding gold's appeal.

"Should markets restore the odds for a pre-Christmas Fed rate cut...that should help keep spot gold above the psychological $2700 level," Exinity Group Chief Market Analyst Han Tan said.

On the physical front, gold demand in India faltered, while Japan and Singapore saw some buying.

Spot silver fell 1.3% to $31.58 per ounce, platinum fell 1.8% to $979.15, palladium shed 2.3% to $1,001.25. All three metals were heading for weekly declines.