Al Habtoor postpones IPO again
Chairman of group calls the delay a ‘moral issue’
The Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor has postponed the planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the Group, it was announced on Tuesday.
Al Habtoor said, “After a thorough evaluation I have decided to postpone the IPO. It is a moral issue not taking the Group public at this time. I will continue to focus on best practice and growing the company in a sustainable way.”
The $1.6 bn initial public offering from Al Habtoor Group was slated for March or September. Chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor is said to have considered the price expectations for the IPO not high enough.
Khalaf Al Habtoor revealed that the Group received an independent valuation from global advisory firm Grant Thornton which valued the company at $6.06 bn.
The Group full year earnings are forecasted to grow 16% in excess of $191.8mn. That compares to $165.5mn in 2011. It marks the first time the Group has publicly announced its earnings.
It’s not the first IPO the Al Habtoor Group has abandoned. A planned IPO for the Al Habtoor Leighton construction company was scrapped in the global financial crisis, though not before Al Habtoor had sold a 45% stake in Al Habtoor Engineering to the Australian construction giant Leighton for $860mn.
