Abu Dhabi’s IHC to list three units on ADX secondary market

Al Seer Marine, Emirates Stallion Group and an undisclosed company to be listed in second quarter

International Holding Company will list three subsidiaries on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange’s secondary market in the second quarter. Sammy Dallal / The National.

International Holding Company (IHC) will list three subsidiaries on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange’s secondary market to boost their growth.

Boat manufacturer Al Seer Marine and Emirates Stallion Group (ESG) will be listed in the second quarter of this year, the company said in a statement on Friday. It is also going to list another subsidiary and the company will disclose the name in the coming weeks.

“The listing will create an attractive opportunity for current and new investors to take part in the growth of the companies, as well as benefitting IHC as a result of increased profile raising and higher visibility from these companies,” the company said.

ESG has a diversified portfolio of businesses across engineering and construction, development and management of real estate and public realms and associated services. The company has assets of Dh394 million ($107m) as of the end of 2020 and employs more than 1000 people.

ESG also owns five subsidiaries including Century Real Estate, Royal Development Company, Abu Dhabi Land General Contracting, Gulf Dunes Landscaping and Agricultural services and RAPM Architect Project Management.

“IHC has continued to grow becoming the second-biggest company by value on the Abu Dhabi Securities exchange,” Syed Basar Shueb, chief executive and managing director of IHC, said. “We will continue to enrich our diversified portfolio with strong companies that are in line with our growth strategy and goals.”

The listing of trio of companies will follow three other successful listings that IHC completed in 2020. These include Palm Sports, Easylease and Zee Stores on ADX’s secondary market.

Listed on the ADX since 2005, Abu Dhabi-based IHC, which is majority owned by Abu Dhabi's PAL Group of Companies, has expanded its operations to include real estate, healthcare, food and agriculture.

The company reported a 1,233 per cent increase in net profit for the first quarter of 2021 as revenue surged on the back of recent acquisitions.

Net profit for the three months to March 31 increased to Dh1.5 billion, from Dh112m in the same period last year as revenue trebled to Dh2.28bn, the company said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange earlier this month.

At the end of March, it had total assets of Dh19.67bn, compared to Dh8.9bn at the same period last year.

IHC has investments in a number of companies including Alpha Dhabi Holding, a real estate and construction sector-focused company previously known as Trojan Holding, California based SpaceX as well as Quantlase Imaging Lab, the company behind the rapid Covid-19 screening system operated on the border between Abu Dhabi and Dubai at Ghantoot and Tamouh Healthcare.