| About Dana Gas
Nearly half a
million private investors have snapped up shares in Dana Gas, the region's first private-sector natural gas company, raising a staggering US$78 billion.
Dana Gas chiefs were flooded with applications for the IPO, which was over subscribed by 140 times and raised a total of US$78 billion (AED288 billion). The float was only expected to raise US$3.6 billion (AED2 billion).
The huge Dana Gas windfall dwarfs the US$1.67 billion internet search engine Google raised from its flotation on the New York Stock Exchange in August.
And market observers say the implications of such a huge investment within the region are massive. As the lead arranger for the share
issue, the HSBC Bank is reaping the rewards as it will earn nearly US$40 million in just three weeks for holding onto the subscriber's cash while the applications are processed.
The huge outflow of cash from Saudi Arabian investors even affected the Riyal's value on the international money markets as analysts expressed stability fears.
One leading industry analyst said the staggering response was significant in two ways. Firstly, it confirms the massive levels of liquid cash currently awash in the region and secondly, it exposes the lack of opportunity for an appropriate vehicle to invest in regionally.
Haissam Arabbi of Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital,
told Arabian Business: "This news proves there is so much liquidity in the system and there is a lot of euphoric buying, It is very positive to witness such investor sentiment and confidence.
"It is clear that there is so much excess cash in the region that is looking for places to park. The danger, however, is that there is too much cash chasing too little products and that threatens the price value.
"Once the value starts exceeding earnings and the other attached factors, then that becomes an inflationary matter and that has to watched very closely and very carefully."
Haissam said the financial authorities should act to avoid an over-heated money
market in the absence of a monetary policy.
"They need to introduce longer term Treasury deposit schemes from the current 5 years to 10, 15 or even 20 year incentives," he added. "They have to think mid to long term and start sucking all this excess liquidity out of the system before price value issues start appearing."
The Dana Gas issue, which closed on October 3, saw thousands of investors from Saudi Arabia flocking to HSBC branches in Adliya, Muharraq and Manama to buy into it.
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