UAE’s KBBO hires Goldman, Morgan Stanley for Centurion London listing – sources

United Arab Emirates’ investment company KBBO Group has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley among others for an expected US$1 billion-plus London listing for one its subsidiaries, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

Privately-owned KBBO plans to sell up to 40 percent of Centurion Partners in an initial public offering (IPO) planned for the first half of 2016, the sources said on Sunday, declining to be named because the matter was not yet public.

Three other banks — Dubai’s Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and EFG-Hermes — have been hired for the sale, the sources added.

Officials at KBBO declined to comment.

Centurion Partners was created through the merging of two KBBO subsidiaries, Centurion Investment and Infinite Investment LLC.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will act as bookrunners and global coordinators while EFG-Hermes is hired as a bookrunner. Emirates NBD and ADIB will act as co-lead managers, the sources said.

Guggenheim KBBO Partners, a joint venture between New York-based investment firm Guggenheim Partners and KBBO, is also acting as an adviser.

The family investment firm named after chairman Khalifa Butti Bin Omeir is raising capital to fund new investment opportunities and to monetise existing investments, sources had told Reuters in August.

KBBO’s investments range from financial services to defence and it owns stakes in healthcare provider NMC Group, remittance and foreign exchange business UAE Exchange and UAE Defence Technology Co among others.

source: Reuters