Shares in Abu Dhabi's Aabar surged on Sunday after the UAE securities regulator told the company to raise its buyout offer to minority shareholders by over a third. The government-controlled investment fund is in the process of delisting from the Abu Dhabi stock exchange and its initial buyout offer of 1.45 dirhams per share was considered too low by investors.
Shares in Aabar, which owns around 9 percent in German carmaker Daimler, rose 8.3 percent to 1.59 dirhams. The securities regulator asked the company to raise its buyback price to 1.95 dirhams per share.
"The fact there are no clear rules and regulations for such events didn't help anybody," said Zahed Chowdhury of Al Mal Capital. Aabar's shares helped lift Abu Dhabi's index rise 0.1 percent to 2,526 points. Overall trading volumes remained low, slightly above the level of the previous Sunday. In Dubai, the benchmark fell 0.8 percent to 1,508 points. Property-related stocks were sold off following a downbeat report from Fitch Ratings, which warned the credit outlook for the sector remains negative. Emaar Properties and Arabtec fell 0.6 percent and 2.7 percent respectively. "Despite signs that conditions may be stabilising, as well as a recent round of debt restructurings and extensions, Fitch believes that the credit outlook for the sector remains negative," said Bashar Al Natoor, Director in Fitch's EMEA Corporates team, Dubai.
"Without a significant improvement in market conditions, sizeable disposals or additional equity raising, and significant government support, it is unlikely that developers will deleverage quickly enough to repay the upcoming 2011/2012 maturities from internal resources," according to Fitch.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, trading was mixed with Bahrain and Oman edging higher, while Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia fell, mainly due to a drop in oil prices and in the absence of any major positive catalysts.
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