Arabtec says it has done no wrong

Arabtec shares have struggled since news of the planned takeover by Aabar was announced.

Arabtec Holding claims that it has fully complied with the regulations of the Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) regarding disclosures and transparency matters in dealing with the proposal from Aabar Investments to acquire shares in Arabtec.

On 29 December, Arabtec received a request from the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) to confirm or deny that Aabar intended to acquire shares in the company. Arabtec responded on the same day, denying the company had been contacted by Aabar in this regard.

On 4 January, the first meeting was held between Arabtec and Aabar to discuss a proposal by the latter to invest in Arabtec.

Immediately following the meeting on 4 January, Arabtec informed SCA of the discussions that took place and the need to maintain confidentiality regarding these discussions as required by SCA rule 35 that states: “It shall be permissible for the entity or company not to issue a press announcement regarding any given information or matters which are under negotiation, if its senior management has reasonable grounds to believe that the revealing of such information will inflict serious damage upon its interests, and there has not been, nor will be, any dealing in its shares by members of its board of directors and executive managers and their relatives to the first degree on the basis of the information not announced to the public, provided that the company furnishes to the director of the Market such information and data specifying the persons aware of such information, and, requesting him to consider it confidential until the grounds which gave rise to that no longer subsist.”

On January 7, Arabtec informed SCA and DFM of the Board of Directors' decision on Aabar’s proposal to acquire 70% of the increased share capital of the company through issuing a mandatory convertible bond issued by Arabtec to Aabar of AED6.42 to be converted at AED2.3 per share, recommending to the shareholders acceptance of such offer.

The notice was posted on DFM website before trading started on Sunday 10 January.

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