Borouge sets leadership vision as chemical firm awaits merger nod

Borouge Group International, the $60 billion Emirati-Austrian chemical giant created last month, is cooking up plans to lead the industry as it awaits EU regulatory approval.

“As we embark on a new era of transformative growth, [BGI] will be a global petrochemical powerhouse – combining scale, resilience and innovation,” Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Chairman of Borouge, which is slated to merge with Vienna-based OMV’s Borealis unit, told shareholders on Monday.

Al Jaber, who is also Group CEO of ADNOC and the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said BGI plans to distribute a $2.2 billion annual dividend for at least four years after the deal’s closing, which is expected in 2026.

“Simply put, ADNOC and OMV are building a bigger, stronger, growth-orientated company that is focussed on delivering superior total shareholder returns to our investors,” Al Jaber said.

Abu Dhabi’s IHC seeks to reward investors after surge putters out

International Holding Co., the $240 billion conglomerate that grew out of an obscure Emirati fish farming business, is seeking to reward shareholders as the company’s phenomenal growth spurt has stalled.

The Abu Dhabi-based firm, led by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed, brother of the UAE’s President, is making plans for a $1.4 billion buyback program aimed at reviving its stock price to “create significant value in the future,” CEO Syed Basar Shueb tells Bloomberg.

Between 2019 and 2022, IHC shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rocketed 43,000%. Over the past two years, however, they’ve leveled off and hovered around the level of 400 dirhams.

IHC announced the buyback program May 6 and plans to execute the plan over a one-year period, pending approval from investors and regulators.

“This is our strategy for rewarding our shareholders,” Shueb said.