By: Ahmed Awad

Kuwait – Mubasher: Boubyan Petrochemical chairman Dabbous Mubarak Al Dabbous on Tuesday announced that his company was in talks to acquire stakes in several companies, including Oman.

Speaking to Mubasher on the sidelines of the company’s ordinary general meeting (OGM) held in Kuwait, the top official revealed that EQUATE Petrochemical Company, a sister company, is in charge of implementing a project in the Gulf of Mexico at an investment cost of $1.9 billion.

The project specialises in the production of ethylene glycol, Al Dabbous said, noting that it was expected that the project operation will begin by 2019.

Boubyan Petrochemical holds a 9% stake in EQUATE and is the first Kuwaiti company in this sector.

The company has expressed concerns regarding its planned acquisition of Nafais Holding, due to the latter’s non-disclosure of a lawsuit in last year’s statements, the chairman stated.

He added that Boubyan Petrochemical has contacted the Kuwaiti Capital Market Authority (CMA) regarding the acquisition and is awaiting the CMA’s reponse.

Several authorities are in serious talks to purchase Boubyan Petrochemical’s stake in Saudi-based Al Borg Medical Laboratories, Dabbous stated, noting that Boubyan’s acquisition of a stake in Al Borg was carried out four years ago at $100 million; however, new valuation shows that the value of this stake currently amounts to around $400 million.

On another note, the petrochemical firm’s OGM on Tuesday approved the distribution of a cash dividend amounting 40 fils per share, representing 40% of capital and totalling KWD 20.6 million.

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi