The shares of Bayanat AI, a geospatial data products and services provider owned by Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company G42, quadrupled above its listing price on Monday as the company made its debut on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The shares, which began trading under the ticker symbol “BAYANAT”, rose 309 per cent to an intraday high of Dh4.50 ($1.22).
They settled 272 per cent above the listing price at Dh4.10 at the close of trading. The price of the offering was set at Dh1.10 per ordinary share.
Bayanat’s initial public offering will support the company’s strategy of investing in research and development and exploring inorganic growth opportunities, it said in a statement on Monday.
“We will now focus on further strengthening our AI solutions powered by our geospatial technology, international expansion, inorganic growth and new JVs creation and partnerships,” Hasan Al Hosani, chief executive of Bayanat, said.
“We are confident that listing on ADX will deliver the increased investment, support and profile we need to achieve these ambitions.”
The offering attracted significant demand from investors, with gross demand amounting to more than Dh57.5 billion ($15.7bn) — an oversubscription of 379 times excluding cornerstone investors and 90 times on aggregate.
After the IPO, Bayanat became the first and only listed geospatial intelligence company in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Private equity company Silver Lake — which manages more than $92bn in combined assets and has taken up stakes in some of the world's best-known technology companies, including Airbnb, Chinese payments firm Ant Financial, Expedia Group and Twitter — is a cornerstone investor.
International Holding Company, the most valuable business listed on the Abu Dhabi bourse, is also a cornerstone investor in the Bayanat IPO.
G42 acquired Bayanat in 2020. The company was born out of the commercialisation of the UAE's Military Survey Department, a sector of the Armed Forces.
It provides national-level mapping and geospatial products and services for both the public and private sectors in the UAE.
Bayanat's IPO comes after a flurry of listings in the UAE and wider region, where investor demand has been strong as economies rebound at a quicker pace from the coronavirus-induced slowdown and liquidity has been shored up by high oil prices.
Various government-owned companies have gone public in the UAE and private companies are now following suit.
This month, Abu Dhabi healthcare provider Burjeel Holdings listed its shares on the ADX after raising more than Dh1.1bn from an 11 per cent stake sale in the company’s IPO.
Other companies to list on the bourse this year include Borouge, the joint venture between Adnoc and Austrian chemicals producer Borealis, and the Abu Dhabi Ports Group, the operator of industrial cities and free zones in the emirate.
The number of listings in the Mena market increased sixfold during the first six months of this year, with 24 IPOs raising $13.5bn, according to an EY report on the region. In the second quarter of 2022, nine IPOs raised about $9bn.
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
