Aabar shares fell by the most in seven months with investors left guessing on the value of their stock as the government-backed company prepared to go private. Aabar, which last week bought 5 per cent of the biggest Italian bank Unicredit, fell by 7 per cent as about 4 million shares changed hands yesterday. The shares fell to Dh1.58 in the first trading session since Aabar announced the results of its extraordinary meeting confirming plans to delist from the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
"Once bitten twice shy. Investors are worried about their money getting stuck like it did in Tamweel and Amlak," said Imran Amjad, a trader on the Dubai Financial Market. "It is obviously negative for the market as Aabar has said it will delist without giving details." Aabar has called another meeting for July 26 to seek shareholder approval to become a private joint-stock company and cancel the shares listed on the exchange.
"We don't know the procedure," Mr Amjad said. "Are they going to pay people a premium? Will they get cash according to last closing price or the price at which they made delisting announcement? Are people going to get anything at all?" Other investors blamed the fall on speculation and low volumes. About 70 per cent of Aabar is owned by the International Petroleum Investment Company, and 30 per cent is floated on the ADX.
Aabar has said minority shareholders would not have their shares cancelled. "Shares of private joint-stock companies are traded outside the market and dealing in shares are registered with the company's registrar," it said in a filing. Saad Chalabi, of the Abu Dhabi-based AlRamz Securities, said: "Markets don't like uncertainty. There's a lot of uncertainty of the liquidity of the shares if they end up being traded over the counter."
Some analysts say if Aabar buys out shareholders, it might pay a premium of Dh2.50 based on the price of its convertible bond. @Email:halsayegh@thenational.ae
