Two informed sources told Reuters that the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the G42 artificial intelligence group in Abu Dhabi are in preliminary discussions about a potential initial public offering (IPO) for their joint venture, "AIQ." The sources, who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions, indicated that "the possibility of the initial public offering for the company's shares is being considered by the end of the year." They noted that "the owners of AIQ are discussing whether to make the potential IPO an international offering or to market it exclusively to local investors."
Additionally, AIQ has recently appointed investment banker Youssef Salem as Chief Financial Officer, who previously worked at Moelis & Co for five years and held various positions at the American bank until 2021, after which he served as a senior external advisor to the bank until April of this year. ADNOC, which supplies about three percent of global oil demand, declined to comment. G42, backed by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment, along with AIQ and Salem, have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Stocks of AI companies have played a significant role in driving up the stock market in the U.S. this year, following the success of the American company OpenAI, the owner of the chatbot ChatGPT, which has attracted billions of dollars in investments from Microsoft. G42 is part of a business empire overseen by its chairman Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the National Security Advisor of the United Arab Emirates.
