Shisha Company AIR Invites Bank Pitches for Mideast IPO

Advanced Inhalation Rituals, the owner of shisha brand Al Fakher, has invited banks to pitch for a role on a possible initial public offering in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Bloomberg) — Advanced Inhalation Rituals, the owner of shisha brand Al Fakher, has invited banks to pitch for a role on a possible initial public offering in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter.

AIR hasn’t decided on the venue yet, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The firm, majority-owned by London-based private equity firm Kingsway Capital, is also weighing a sale as part of a dual-track process, with Rothschild & Co. advising on the possible deals, they said.

Reuters reported in March that Rothschild was advising Kingsway Capital on a possible IPO or sale.

Representatives for Rothschild, AIR and Kingsway Capital didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

If listed in the United Arab Emirates, it would mark a rare IPO by a private company in the Gulf country, where share sale activity has been dominated by state-owned entities. Money exchange firm Al Ansari Financial Services is the only privately-owned company to have gone public in the UAE this year.

An IPO boom in the Persian Gulf that gathered pace in late 2021 on the back of higher oil prices has slowed this year as concerns over a possible recession have weighed on investor sentiment as well as oil. Just $5.1 billion has been raised through listings in the region this year, a 64% drop from a year ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Kingsway Capital took Al-Eqbal Investment Co private from the Amman stock exchange in 2020 in a deal that valued the owner of Al Fakher at more than $1.4 billion including debt. The firm was subsequently rebranded as AIR.

Al Fakher began as a manufacturer of shisha molasses in 1999 and is now present in over 100 countries. AIR’s portfolio also includes other shisha companies including e-commerce platform Hookah-shisha.com and OOKA, a pod-based device that doesn’t use charcoal, according to its website.

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