Global Investment House (Global) announced today that it has received “The Deal of the Year” award from the renowned magazine The Banker, one of the Financial Times Business publications.
The award was presented to Mr. Omar El-Quqa, Executive Vice President of Global in an event held at the Fairmont hotel in Dubai on 26 February 2006. The event was attended by a prestigious list of invitees from the business and financial industry.
The award was given to Global for its role as co-lead manager in the Initial Public Offering for Investcom late in 2005. The organizers have considered the deal as one of the hottest IPOs of the region in 2005. It is the largest international equity offering ever by a Middle Eastern company and the first to list on the newly formed Dubai based stock exchange, Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX).
According to the magazine, the IPO provided international investors with the opportunity to gain exposure to the fast-growing mobile markets in the developing region. The managers of the deal were able to gather an order book of more than USD 10 billion in a very short time which allowed an issue price at the higher end of the range. The issue was also supported by strong aftermarket performance, with shares trading up 15% in the first day of trading.
After receiving the award, Mr. El-Quqa commented "We are proud to be selected to receive this prestigious award which is added to the list of awards and recognitions the company has been receiving. The award is a recognition of the role that Global plays in Investment Banking and the placement power it enjoys".
Mr. El-Quqa added that the company achievements have been recognized on the company, the management and the product levels. The latest were the naming of the company as the "Best Equity House in Kuwait" and "Best Real Estate Investment House in Kuwait” by Euromoney Magazine in addition to the Gulf Excellence Award.
It is worth noting that Investcom is an international wireless telecom player providing services across Africa, Middle East and Europe with over 4 million subscribers. The Company operates GSM networks mostly under the Areeba brand and enjoys footprint in eight countries including Syria, Ghana, Yemen, Benin, Liberia, Cyprus, Guinea-Bissau and Sudan. Investcom has recently been awarded a license in Guinea to further strengthen its presence in the region and a license to build and operate a GSM network in Afghanistan thereby boosting its combined population under license to 147 million.
Investcom’s Global Depository Shares (“GDS”s) were listed on the London Stock Exchange (“LSE”) in October, 2005. Subsequent to the listing on the LSE, Investcom is the first publicly listed company on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (“DIFX”).
Mr. El-Quqa ended by saying that the award is an international recognition to the Global staff for their dedication and hard work as they are the company's assets and the ones behind all the company’s success.
