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Gulf Capital unit completes IPO offering

Abu Dhabi, March 25, 2014

Gulf Marine Services, a unit of Gulf Capital - a leading alternative asset managers in the Middle East, has completed its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange recently.
 
GMS is the leading operator of self-propelled self-elevated support vessels (SESV) in the Middle East and in the Southern North Sea in Europe, with clients in the offshore oil and gas industry and wind turbine installation sector.
 
The offering valued the equity of the company at 472 million pounds ($783 million) at the offer price of 135 pence and the total proceeds raised at the IPO were 179 million pounds ($296 million – after exercise of the over-allotment option).
 
About 68 per cent of the investors in the IPO were from the UK, 25 per cent from the Middle East with the balance from the US and the rest of the world.
 
Gulf Capital, through its GC Equity Partners II Fund, reduced its shareholding in the company from 80 to 49.7 per cent after exercise of the over-allotment option (Greenshoe).
 
Gulf Capital’s GC Equity Partners II Fund will have generated total gross gains in excess of $600 million including the fund’s remaining shareholding in GMS (valued at the IPO price).  
 
BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays Bank PLC acted as joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners and joint sponsors of this offering, JP Morgan Cazenove as joint bookrunner, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank as co-lead managers. Rothschild acted as financial adviser to the company.
 
Dr Karim El Solh, CEO and managing partner of Private Equity at Gulf Capital, said:  “We are extremely happy with the performance of GMS under the leadership of the current management.  During the seven year ownership period of Gulf Capital, GMS has increased its net profitability by 1,117 per cent and has grown from being a local UAE company to becoming a dominant global leader in its industry.  
 
“The financial performance of GMS has been stellar, registering an annual compound growth rate of 39.6 per cent in revenues, 49.2 per cent in EBITDA and 51.7 per cent in net profits over the last seven years.  
 
“At the current IPO price, total gross gains on the GMS investment for Gulf Capital’s GC Equity Partners II Fund are in excess of $600 million, including the Fund’s remaining shareholding in GMS.  The GMS investment represents the template for future control growth buy-outs in the Middle East and is a good testimony of the strong returns that can be generated from private equity in the Gulf region.”
 
Richard Dallas, managing director of Private Equity at Gulf Capital, added: “This is a landmark transaction not only for Gulf Capital, but also for the business community in Abu Dhabi and the Middle East. We have been fortunate to have partnered with Horizon Energy and Al Ain Capital on this unique investment opportunity.  
 
“The capital raised through the IPO will help the company to continue its new-build programme and to expand its fleet into the GCC, the Mediterranean, and the Southern North Sea as well as into other new and attractive global markets, such as South East Asia and West Africa.” - TradeArabia News Service



Tags: IPO | Gulf | capital | marine |

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