Hasan Ismaik resigns from all positions at Arabtec
Share prices plummeted to lowest since March 2012 earlier this week, DFM data shows
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Hasan Ismaik, chief executive officer of Arabtec Holding Co, has resigned from the company after state-controlled Aabar Investments reduced its stake in Arabtec by almost 4%.
Board member Mohamad Al Fahim has been appointed as the acting CEO and was elected by Ismaik, it is believed.
A board meeting is currently under way, representatives from Arabtec have told Big Project ME, with a statement imminent.
According to a report by Businessweek, two sources, who declined to be named, confirmed that Ismaik has quit all his positions in the company. The former CEO had tripled his holding in Arabtec to 28.84% earlier this year. As per Bloomberg, Ismaik earlier today said he would “consider the offer” if any government entity approached “to buy his stake.”
Last week, Arabtec’s shares witnessed their worst weekly drop since March 2012 after Aabar reduced its stake in the publicly traded company from 21.57% to 18.85%.
In an interview with Al Arabiya Television earlier in the month, Ismaik had claimed that rumours of a conflict between the managements of Aabar and Arabtec were untrue. He added the changes in Arabtec’s ownership structure are not related to the company’s project pipeline, which is estimated to be worth $56.6 billion across the region.
This includes the Arabtec-Egyptian government collaboration on a project worth $40 billion to construct affordable housing in the country.
Arabtec’s share price at the beginning of the month (June 1, 2014) was AED6.52; their last trade price is AED4.30 (June 18, 2014.)
At the company’s AGM in April 2014, Ismaik had revealed the company would list shares from its building arm on the Abu Dhabi market next year. Up to 40% of Arabtec’s construction subsidiary, which Ismaik estimated to be worth $2.72 billion, could be floated in 2015, he had said.
Addressing stakeholders at the AGM, Ismaik said the company intends to pursue the targets set under its ‘Vision 2018? programme by expanding across sectors and geographical segment between 2014 and 2018.
“We aspire to grow into the top 10 global companies, through organic expansion into energy, oil and gas, specialised construction, infrastructure, ports, airports, railways, and facility and heavy industry management, as well as geographical expansion in MENA, Europe and Central Asia,” Ismaik had assured shareholders present at the AGM.
