Air Arabia IPO closes

The IPO, which opened on March 18, 2007, is the largest offering in UAE history to date and is open to both UAE and non-UAE nationals, including individual and institutional investors.

The total size of the offering is AED2,566,700,000 consisting of 2,566,700,000 shares, representing 55 per cent of the company's share capital, at an offer price of AED 1 per share, in addition to AED 0.02 in offering costs.

SHUAA Capital is the Lead Manager, Financial Advisor and Bookrunner for the IPO. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi is the Lead Receiving Bank. In addition, investors are able to subscribe at receiving banks both in the UAE and the GCC.

Receiving banks in the UAE are: National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), Mashreqbank, Dubai Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Bank, First Gulf Bank, InvestBank, National Bank of Fujairah, National Bank of Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Union National Bank.

Receiving banks across the GCC are: Ahli United Bank, Bahrain; Ahli Bank, Qatar; and National Bank of Oman, Oman.

Air Arabia plans to list its shares on the Dubai Financial Market.

The company intends to use the proceeds from the offering, in addition to bank financing, to expand the size of its existing fleet from nine to at least 34 aircraft by 2016. In addition, Air Arabia aims to expand its scope of operations and invest in the infrastructure associated with the fleet expansion.

Allocation of shares among subscribers will take place on April 8, 2007, with refunds for subscribers in the UAE on April 11, 2007, and for those in the GCC on April 14, 2007.