UAE’s Emirates Global Aluminium hopes to list in 2018

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) aims to list in 2018, subject to market conditions, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

“We hope EGA will become a public company in 2018, subject to market conditions,” EGA Chief Executive Abdulla Kalban told Reuters.

His comment echoed those made by Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala, which owns half of EGA, last October.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala mulls Emirates Global Aluminium IPO in 2018

EGA was created in 2013 when state-owned companies Dubai Aluminium and Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Aluminium merged. Its enterprise value was put at $15bn at the time.

Dubai is the likely destination for the listing, people familiar with the matter said, but the company has not said where it will list.

EGA on Tuesday also reported its 2017 earnings, reporting a 59 per cent rise in full-year profit to Dhs3.3bn ($900m) on stronger aluminium prices and record production levels.

It produced 2.6 million tonnes of cast metal, exceeding 2016’s 2.5 million tonnes and making EGA the third-largest producer of primary aluminium outside China, it said.

Kalban said preparations for the initial public offering of shares were continuing with advisers which he did not identify.

Reuters reported last year, quoting sources, that EGA had picked Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to advise on its IPO.

A source familiar with the matter said 10 to 15 per cent of the company was likely to be floated.

Mubadala has started the process to list another two companies, a spokesman for the state investor told Reuters without providing further details.

Mubadala had assets of Dhs465.5bn ($126.8bn) at the end of June and is Abu Dhabi’s second biggest state investor after the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Like neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi is restructuring its industrial sector, hoping to attract foreign investors via privatisations after lower energy prices depleted its coffers.

After the listing of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co’s distribution unit, banking sources have told Reuters Abu Dhabi could list Abu Dhabi Ports and industrial conglomerate Senaat.