NASS Corporation IPO road shows evoke substantial interest

The events were held in the run up to the ground-breaking Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares in Nass Corporation BSC, Bahrain's first family-owned conglomerate operating in the construction sector to go public and the largest IPO on the Bahrain Stock Exchange in the last eight years.

The attendees - High Net Worth Individuals - were informed of the timeframe for the IPO of shares which are being offered to the general public from 8 am on October 9 until 12pm on October 30 this year. Investors of all nationalities will be able to subscribe for up to 50 million ordinary shares - or 25% - of issued and fully paid up Ordinary Shares of Nass Corporation BSC.

The founding shareholders will retain a majority shareholding in Nass Corporation BSC, which has been formed from 10 construction, contracting and other related businesses of the Nass Group. Existing business of the group not forming part of the Corporation will continue operating as normal.

The IPO process follows the successful private placement of shares in June this year where 24% of the newly formed Corporation's ordinary shares were placed with 15 high profile private investors from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Investors of all nationalities are eligible to apply for a minimum of 1,000 shares in Nass Corporation BSC, whose shares will be tradable on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) once trading begins in November. BSE has the highest threshold for the foreign ownership of shares of any exchange in the region, allowing up to 49% foreign ownership of shares.

Mr. Sameer Abdulla Nass, managing director of Nass Group said, "We are very enthusiastic about the IPO process and hope to replicate the levels of interest we enjoyed from the private placement earlier this year. The aim of these road shows was to bring further awareness to investors in the key UAE market of the IPO and answer any questions they may have regarding the process."

Applications are invited from investors of all nationalities, who can collect a copy of the IPO prospectus and subscription forms from 9 October from Emirates Financial Services (EFS) in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE. In Bahrain the same can be obtained from the Manama, Adliya and Muharraq branches of HSBC and the office of Registrar, KPMG-Shares Registrar Department, Al-Hedaya Building, Government Avenue.