No IPO for OSN yet
May 22, 2014
By Chris Forrester
Dubai-based Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) says it has “no current plans” for a stock-market float. The comments came followed market speculation that itself was prompted by comments made by its KIPCO majority (60.5 per cent) owners that an IPO was expected to happen this year.
In March KIPCO’s deputy chairman Faisal al-Ayyar stated that it was preparing for OSN’s IPO “within weeks” and the target date was before the end of this year for an IPO.
That plan has been scotched by OSN’s CEO David Butorac, speaking at an event in Dubai, saying: “The shareholders are looking at the options that they have for the future and one of those is to approach the equity markets. But, as it stands today, we have no active plans or timetable,” Butorac said. “We’re generating significant free cash and so there are no current funding needs for the company.”