By John Lee.
Abu Dhabi's Invest AD plans to buy into the Asiacell IPO(initial public offering),making it the top holding in its Iraq fund.
Sherif Salem(pictured),the manager of the Invest AD Iraq Opportunity Fund,and one of our Expert Bloggers on Iraq Business News,said:
"Asiacell is going to be one of those stocks,that regardless of the price or valuations it sells at,will perform well.We plan to participate.The telecom sector is one of Iraq's biggest stories and our Iraq fund is based on that.
"Though penetration levels have reached 80 per cent,internet reach is still not like other places in the region,which means each user is not generating as much as he potentially would be in the future."
North Bank,which had a very profitable first nine months,is currently the top holding in the$19.5-million fund,with an 11 per cent allocation.
Geoffrey Batt,who manages the$39 million Euphrates Iraq Fund,commented:
"It would demonstrates that the ISX is a viable capital market…It would also be a catalyst for more attractive companies that are private to list."
