DR NEWS
Global Investment House, an asset management and investment banking company operating in 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has become the first Kuwait-based company to issue depositary receipts. The issue of 35% of its share capital was the largest ever DR capital-raising from the Middle East, totaling $1.15 billion. HSBC was the sole global coordinator for the transaction, and Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and UBS acted as joint bookrunners.
Global Investment House, Kuwait’s biggest investment bank, selected The Bank of New York Mellon as depositary bank for its global depositary receipt program. Each GDR represents five ordinary shares. The GDRs trade on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The ordinary shares are listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, the Bahrain Stock Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market.
“This is a ground-breaking GDR program from Kuwait, and we are pleased to serve as depositary,” Michael Cole-Fontayn, chief executive of The Bank of New York Mellon’s DR division, said in a statement. The depositary bank has been operating in the MENA for nearly 100 years and has representative offices in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo and Istanbul. There are now 34 companies from the Middle East trading on the LSE, with a combined market capitalization of $26 billion. Kuwait Energy plans to sell 25% of its shares in an initial public offering next year and list them on the LSE. Kuwait is the fourth-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Gordon Platt
