Following the announcement of the listing of its shares on the primary market of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), AD Ports Group today commemorated its landmark achievement with an official bell ringing ceremony.The shares began trading on ADX today under the ticker symbol “ADPORTS”.
The ringing of the bell was conducted by H.E. Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Chairman of AD Ports Group;H.E. Hisham Khalid Tawfiq Abdulkhaliq Malak, Chairman, ADX; Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group; and Saeed Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ADX.
Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, said: “We are pleased to see that our continued efforts to drive the growth of trade and industry across the UAE and beyond have achieved another key milestone with the official start of trading of AD Ports Group’s shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
“Rising to meet the challenges faced by global markets in recent years, AD Ports Group has emerged as a resilient entity that not only continues to expand in terms of size and capabilities, but which has also influenced transformation and the adoption of innovation.
“And now, as a publicly listed company, we welcome new shareholders in joining us on our remarkable journey to develop the maritime and logistics industries across the region and globally.”
Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ADX, said: “We are pleased to welcome Abu Dhabi Ports Group on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the second listing of 2022. The listing of AD Ports on ADX follows a robust pipeline of listings and new products that we introduced in 2021. As part of our ‘ADX One’ we will continue to encourage the listings pipeline to enhance our dynamic capital market.”
Ahead of the listing, AD Ports Group raised AED 4 billion through a primary issuance. The proceeds will be used to fund organic and inorganic growth plans, allowing AD Ports Group to accelerate its local and international expansion plans. Accordingly, ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company with a broad portfolio of enterprises, remains a majority shareholder with 75.44 percent ownership in the listed entity.
The listing of AD Ports Group’s shares and the bell ringing ceremony followed ADQ’s recent transfer of ownership of stakes for two of the UAE’s leading enterprises. The AD Ports Group now have a 22.32 percent ownership of Aramex PJSC (“Aramex”) and a 10 percent ownership of the National Marine Dredging Company PJSC (“NMDC”).
ADX trading value (buy + sell) jumped five-fold AED 739 billion in 2021 versus AED 145.6 billion (buy + sell) in 2020 while net foreign investment soared more than seven fold to AED 15.3 billion compared to AED 2 billion in the same timeframe. The exchange’s benchmark equity index increased 64% by end 2021.
