22 June 2021

Mubadala to partially float Yahsat

by Charles Forrester

The UAE's state-owned investment fund Mubadala announced on 21 June that it is floating a 30–40% stake in satellite communications subsidiary Yahsat.

The listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) will involve a public offering to individual and other investors within the UAE, and a separate offering to qualified institutional and other investors in the country and from abroad.

Shares are being sold with a nominal value of AED1.00 (USD0.27), with the value of each share to be determined through a book-building process. Between 731.9 million and 975.9 million shares have been earmarked for issuance.

Mubadala is to float 30–40% of Yahsat, operator of the Al Yah 3, on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. (Orbital ATK)

A timetable for the listing published in UAE-based newspaper The National noted that the expected date of listing on the ADX is 14 July.

The company noted in its prospectus that government and military customers are a key part of its growth strategy, ranging from customers in the UAE to the Gulf and beyond. According to the prospectus the company is in “ongoing discussions” with the UAE government concerning additional military capacity and services. Yahsat is also responsible for the management of the UAE's FalconEye space-based optical surveillance satellite programme. Of the two satellites launched under the programme, one was successfully placed into orbit in December 2020, while the first failed during launch in July 2019.

The UAE's state-owned investment fund Mubadala announced on 21 June that it is floating a 30–40% sta...

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