Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC ‘hires banks for fuel retailer IPO’

ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has picked a local bank and three foreign lenders as bookrunners for the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its retail unit that could raise $1.5 billion to $2 billion, sources said on Thursday.

The listing for ADNOC Distribution, which manages petrol stations as well as convenience stores across the UAE, comes as Abu Dhabi joins other Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia and Oman, in privatizing energy assets.

First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup have been mandated for the IPO, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The sources declined to be named as the matter is not public. An ADNOC spokesman declined to comment.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, HSBC and First Abu Dhabi Bank also all declined to comment.

Sources had earlier told Reuters that US boutique investment bank Moelis & Co. had been hired as an adviser.

Rothschild has been picked as adviser for the flotation of ADNOC Distribution, while 10 banks were invited to pitch for a role in the IPO, Reuters reported this week.

ADNOC has no plans to list the holding company. State-owned ADNOC produces around 3 million barrels of oil per day and manages 95 percent of the UAE’s proven oil reserves and 92 percent of the country’s gas reserves.