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11/16/2006 EMP Global LLC ("EMP") announced today that its IDB Infrastructure Fund (the "Fund") has carried out a partial sale of its total investment of US$85 million in Saudi International Petrochemical Company ("Sipchem"), a diversified petrochemicals company based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Fund has sold 4,172,520 shares as part of the initial public offering and listing of Sipchem's shares on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange. The Fund continues to hold 9,735,880 of Sipchem shares. Total proceeds of the sale (net of IPO costs) amounted to US$60.5 million. The IPO price of SR55 per share represents an approximate 5 times return on the Fund's average investment cost in Sipchem. Mumtaz Khan, Chairman and CEO of EMP Bahrain, and a Board member of Sipchem, said: "We are delighted to have participated in the building of a well-managed world-class petrochemicals company in Saudi Arabia. In so doing we have generated excellent returns for our investors in the IDB Infrastructure Fund, who have supported us over the past five years. Sipchem's listing provides a unique opportunity for a wide range of public investors to support the company's future growth." EMP Bahrain, a subsidiary of EMP Global, is the Manager of the IDB Infrastructure Fund, a US$730 million fund sponsored by the Islamic Development Bank which focuses on making infrastructure investments in IDB member countries. The Fund has fully committed its capital of US$730 million to equity investments in companies or projects in the petrochemicals, power, telecommunications, transport and other infrastructure sectors across Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, Oman, Bangladesh and the Republic of Guinea. With the five year investment period for the Fund coming to an end in December 2006, the Fund will have, with the completion of Sipchem's IPO, already returned to its investors US$420 million (or 57%) of their total capital commitment of US$730 million in the Fund. Sipchem is one of the leading private sector petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia, founded in December 1999 to invest in basic and intermediate petrochemicals. The company has successfully constructed two large plants owned and operated by its subsidiaries International Methanol Company ("IMC") and Gulf Advanced Chemical Industries Company ("GACIC"). IMC commenced commercial production in December 2004, producing annually 1 million metric tons of methanol; a chemical used in a multitude of applications like wood products, resins, gasoline additives, as well as films, fibers and polyester. GACIC, the first company to produce butanediol in the Middle East, commenced commercial production in March 2006 with an annual capacity of 75 thousand metric tons. Butanediol is a specialty chemical used in the manufacture of polyurethanes, engineering plastic, air bags, as well as in a wide range of parts for the automotive and packaging industries. Sipchem is also developing new petrochemical projects in Jubail Industrial City including Acetic Acid (AA), Vinyl Acetate Monomers (VAM), and utilities projects. Sipchem is planning to undertake several other petrochemical projects in future. About EMP Global LLC EMP Global LLC, the largest private equity fund advisor focused on emerging markets, advises eight private equity funds totaling US$7 billion invested in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. EMP Global has over ninety professionals based across eight offices in the regions in which it invests. About EMP Bahrain Emerging Markets Partnership (Bahrain) E.C ("EMP Bahrain") is the Manager of the IDB Infrastructure Fund, a Fund sponsored by the Islamic Development Bank focused on equity investment in infrastructure in its member countries. EMP Bahrain is a subsidiary of EMP Global LLC. Investor enquiries: Mumtaz Khan, Tel: +973.17.549.310 Media enquiries:Tristan B. Peniston-Bird, Tel: +1.212.515.1933 |