APMT sets stage for Bahrain IPO
AMP Terminals (APMT) and YBA Kanoo Holdings are planning an initial public offering (IPO) of Bahrain’s Khalifa Bin Salman Port in early 2016.
The IPO aims to give back a stake in the facility to the Bahranian public, the port is designed to handle 1m teu per year.
Peder Sondegaard, CEO of APMT’s Africa and Middle East region, told Port Strategy that IPO and listing will take place on the Bahrain Stock Exchange and shares equivalent to a 20% equity stake will be offered next year.
Currently 80% is owned by AMPT and Kanoo hold 20%, but the share offering means APMT’s stake will be diluted to 64%.
Mr Sondegaard also said that the financial institution Gulf International Bank (GIB) has been contracted by APMT Bahrain to assist with the IPO.
The IPO was written into the concession agreement signed in 2006 by the partners when they took over the old port. The port was opened in 2009 and a 25-year concession began, it became fully operational in 2010.
Bahrain’s Khalifa Bin Salman Port mainly handles containers but is a multipurpose facility, it serves both domestic cargo and acts as a transhipment hub for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and parts of Iran and Iraq.
The offering is open to Bahraini and GCC nationals.