UAE law change could lead to IPO surge

Aug. 31, 2007 - PRLog -- Changes to the law in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may prompt Abu Dhabi-based holing company Al Fahim to sell shares in its hotel and property divisions to the public, it has been reported.

It is now possible for family-owned enterprises in the UAE to remain a majority shareholding following an IPO - a development which has attracted Al Fahim's attention.

"We can take some of the group's companies public in order to establish a wider footing and basis for future business,'' the company's chairman Mohammed Al Fahim told Bloomberg in a telephone interview.

He confirmed that the real estate and hotel units were the "most likely to go to market".

UAE law now states that family-owned businesses are permitted to retain a stake of up to 70 per cent of the company following a share issue.

They had only been allowed to hold a 45 per cent stake before the law change came into effect.

Al Fahim recently launched Rmal Hospitality, a hotel and restaurant development company, which is to focus on emerging markets in the Middle East, north Africa and Asia.



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