AD Ports Group, the integrated port, logistics chain and free zone operator, has hired HSBC to advise on a planned takeover bid by Abu Dhabi sovereign investment arm L’imad.
The company’s board, which met through video conferencing, discussed the potential bid and “resolved to approve the appointment of HSBC Bank Middle East as the company’s financial advisers to oversee the transaction”, it said in a statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.
The company offered no indication of a deadline for the transaction.
L'imad this week announced it would bid to acquire 100 per cent of the AD Ports Group shares it does not already own, to expand its logistics portfolio.
L'imad is making a voluntary conditional cash offer to buy all issued and paid-up share capital of the company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, ADQ.
Through ADQ, L'imad currently owns 75.42 per cent of AD Ports Group shares.
The offer price of Dh6.25 ($1.70) per share carries a 23 per cent premium over the Dh5.10 closing for the trading session before the offer date of August 17, valuing the company at Dh31.8 billion.
The ADQ offer is 25 per cent and 31 per cent higher than the one-month and three-month volume-weighted average price of Dh5.02 and Dh4.76, respectively, L'imad said.
It is also 95 per cent higher than the Dh3.20 per share initial public offering subscription price ahead of AD Ports Group's listing on the ADX in February 2022.
“The offer gives AD Ports Group shareholders an attractive opportunity to realise certain and immediate value,” L'imad said in a statement at the time.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, will allow AD Ports Group to pursue its long-term objectives, such as investments and acquisitions, more effectively, without the funding constraints or short-term return expectations of public markets, the statement said.
