Tabreed to buyback 28 percent of Mubadala bonds

Shareholders of the Tabreed, the National Central Cooling Company PJSC,  recently approved the buyback of 28 percent of bonds held by Mubadala Development Company.

This amounts to 854 million bonds that are equivalent to approximately $272.3 million.

"Our company’s strong and consistent year-on-year performance since 2011 has enabled us to present this important proposal to our shareholders, and we are delighted that they have voted to approve it," Tabreed CEO Jasim Husain Thabet said. "This initiative is value-accretive for shareholders, and based on 2014 net income, will increase earnings per share by approximately 2.6 fils [$.000702], while saving the company over [$8.2] million annually."

The move was unanimously supported by those who attended the general assembly, which represented 55 percent of all of the company's shareholders.

“This buyback is part of our wider strategy to continuously improve our capital structure," Thabet said. "It follows our 2014 refinancing, which also delivered annual savings of [$2.5] million. The combined yearly savings from these two transactions will reach approximately [$10.9] million."

The transaction is expected to be finalized by early July. The purchase is facilitated through a loan that the company acquired during refinancing in 2014.