Kuwait's first PPP project to offer shares in 2018

The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) aims to offer shares in Shamal AzZour Al Oula, the country's first public-private partnership project, to investors on Kuwait stock exchange in the first quarter of 2018. Shamal AzZour Al-Oula is the owner and operator of Kuwait’s first and only independent power and water plant. KAPP has roped in NBK Capital-led consortium as adviser and offering manager for the distribution and transfer of shares in Shamal AzZour Al-Oula, which are currently held by the Authority. The transaction is mandated by Kuwait’s public-private partnership law (PPP Law), which requires the state to offer 50 per cent of the total ownership of PPP projects to Kuwaiti citizens through an initial public offering (IPO), said a statement from KAPP. Shamal AzZour Al-Oula is the first company to be established pursuant to the PPP Law framework in Kuwait, and the first to reach the IPO stage. It plans to list on the Boursa Kuwait stock exchange once the shares have been distributed, it added.