Sawiris-backed Fertiglobe to go public in Abu Dhabi this month: Nassef Sawiris-backed chemical producer OCI and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) yesterday announced their intention to offer a 13.8% stake in their joint venture Fertiglobe on the ADX later this month. The listing could value the company at around USD 7 bn, potentially making it one of Abu Dhabi’s largest ever IPOs.

The listing is timed to take advantage of the soaring fertilizer sales and higher prices driven by the commodities boom, and though record natural gas prices are hurting many producers in the sector, Fertiglobe has long-term contracts keeping its gas costs cheap, CEO Ahmed El Hoshy told Bloomberg.

OCI currently owns 58% of the JV and Adnoc the remaining 42%. Post-IPO, OCI will indirectly continue to own a majority stake in the company, while Adnoc will indirectly own at least 36.2% of the company’s share capital.

Advisors: Citigroup, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East and Morgan Stanley have been appointed as joint global coordinators. EFG Hermes UAE, Goldman Sachs and International Securities have been appointed as joint bookrunners.

EMs will need to out-hawk the Fed to survive stagflation: So says the FT’s Robert Armstrong, who joins those warning that stalling growth, high prices and tightening monetary policy among developed economies is already hitting emerging-market bonds, assets and currencies with force. Consumer price inflation in EMs is more exposed to volatile and rapidly rising food and energy prices, while currencies will weaken as the US Fed tightens policy. As a result, investors are best sticking to those countries where central banks are making a serious attempt to tackle inflation by raising rates, analysts tell Armstrong: “If you are out there as an EM central bank talking about transitory inflation and anchored expectations, you are deluding yourself,” says one.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose less than 0.1% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 813 mn (47.9% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 3.8% YTD.

In the green: Raya Holding (+7.5%), Fawry (+3.9%) and Ezz Steel (+3.6%).

In the red: Cleopatra Hospital (-3.4%), Egyptian Resorts Company (-2.5%) and CIRA (-2.3%).

Global markets are looking a bit gnarly this morning. The Nikkei, Kospi and Hang Seng are all down c. 1% at dispatch time, with only Shanghai clinging to the green. Futures suggest the FTSE 100 and DAX 30 will both open in the red, with the CAC 40 in Paris being the only major European index on deck to start the day in the green. It’s also looking like the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq will all open in the red later today.