UAE’s ADNOC Group has announced that it is starting a new, wholly-owned subsidiary, ADNOC Murban, which will become its primary debt capital markets issuing and rated entity.

ADNOC Murban is expected to be rated AA by Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Aa by Moody’s Investor Services and AA by Fitch Ratings, aligned with ratings assigned to ADNOC’s shareholder, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, according to the company statement.

The company also expects to maintain the AA instrument rating provided by Fitch of the 2024 ADNOC Distribution exchangeable bonds.

Meanwhile, ADNOC has requested the withdrawal of its Group-level credit rating, first assigned by Fitch in February 2019, given the establishment of ADNOC Murban as ADNOC’s primary capital markets issuing and rated entity, the statement said.

ADNOC Murban will closely monitor market conditions and explore potential funding opportunities.

Separately, ADNOC has been named as the UAE's most valuable brand for the fourth consecutive year, according to a new report from Brand Finance, the world's leading independent brand valuation consultancy.

ADNOC's US$12.76 billion (AED47 billion) brand value witnessed a 19% increase over the previous year and a 174% increase since 2017, as per the company statement.

ADNOC ranked the first valuable brand in the UAE, the second in the Middle East and North Africa, and the ninth on the top ten most valuable brands in the Oil &Gas (O&G) sector.

Brand Finance also ranked Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, managing director and Group CEO of ADNOC, number one among all O&G CEOs globally for the second consecutive year, and number one in the UAE and the Middle East.