Fertiglobe could raise as much as USD 830 mn through its IPO on the ADX, after the company said it will price its shares at the top end of its indicative range of AED 2.45-2.65 apiece, according to terms seen by Bloomberg. This pricing would make Fertiglobe’s IPO Abu Dhabi’s third-largest listing. Fertiglobe, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Nassef Sawiris’ OCI, is offering 13.85% of the company in the IPO. The nitrogen fertilizer producer will be valued at USD 6 bn, according to Bloomberg, as it benefits from soaring fertilizer prices and damage dealt to rivals as a result of the natural gas supply crisis. Our friends at EFG Hermes are bookrunners on the transaction.

Was lockdown trading (and meme stocks) just a flash in the pan? Covid-related restrictions saw many normies take up trading as a pastime, the FT writes, citing data showing that 30 mn new investing accounts were opened in the US in the first year of the pandemic. The unprecedented rise in retail investors saw them make up 25-30% of total US trading at their peak, up from the 10-15% recorded pre-pandemic. But this “army of lockdown traders” has slowed down now that countries are opening up again: 3Q2021 saw an 8% drop in trading activity in comparison to the quarter before.

Other stories worth knowing about:

• A group of investors in Aramco’s oil pipelines is looking to issue at least USD 4.5 bn in bonds to refinance a USD 10.5 bn loan they had taken out to fund their investment, Bloomberg reports.
• Goldman Sachs is the latest Bulge Bracket bank to have gotten the OK to take full ownership of its China unit.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.1% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.4 bn (7% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 4.0% YTD.

In the green: GB Auto (+7.8%), CIRA (+6.6%) and Pioneers Properties (+4.4%).

In the red: Abu Kir Fertilizers (-4.3%), AMOC (-2.4%) and MM Group (-2.0%).

Asian markets are (ever so slightly) in the green, while futures suggest European shares will have a mixed open this morning and Wall Street is on track to start the day largely flat ahead of earnings reports expected today from Netflix, J&J, P&G and United Airlines.