Abu Dhabi is seeking to create a national champion in oil services by merging National Petroleum Construction and local rival National Marine Dredging Company.
NMDC shares rose 14 per cent in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to 5 dirhams, their highest since March 2017, after NPCC’s shareholders proposed the deal.
NPCC, ultimately controlled by the Abu Dhabi government through one of its investment vehicles, ADQ, wants to transfer all the firm’s share capital to NMDC, according to a statement released on Sunday. The merger would create an entity that had a combined revenue of 8.9 billion dirhams ($2.4 billion) last year.
“This transaction will create a larger, more diversified and financially flexible national champion,” said Khalifa Al Suwaidi, chief investment officer at ADQ and chairman of Senaat, which is NPCC’s main shareholder and itself controlled by ADQ.
