Dubai prepares to list more government and semi-government companies on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).
This decision is driven by the great success achieved by listing the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) in April, as well as the successful IPO of TECOM Group, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, and the high turnout by investors to subscribe to the group's shares, in particular, and the IPO of Dubai companies and institutions, in general.
The listing of DEWA and TECOM raised about AED24 billion ($6.5 billion), while they drew orders worth almost AED350 billion ($95.2 billion).
These figures reflect the huge success and the confidence in Dubai’s institutions and companies that seek through their strategies to upgrade the capital markets and increase their ability to attract investors.
Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, has recently issued a law to establish road toll operator “Salik”' as a Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC).
This enables listing some of its shares in the DFM and is considered a major step as part of Dubai government’s strategy to enhance and develop the market’s performance by listing a number of companies in the future.
Salik is part of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai. The road toll system was launched in 2007 by the RTA to ease traffic congestion on the Sheikh Zayed highway and shore up state revenues.
Salik has eight toll gates and three million registered vehicles, out of which 1.8 million are registered in Dubai, according to the Dubai Media office.
The upcoming period is expected to witness more listings on the DFM, which would enhance its position and attractiveness to investors.
This comes in line with Sheikh Mohammed’s vision to achieve an economic and development renaissance in Dubai in particular, and the UAE in general, and to acquire a diversified, sustainable, more competitive and flexible economy based on knowledge and innovation.
A report on Wednesday said the great success achieved in TECOM’s IPO reflects the global investors’ great confidence in Dubai’s economy and its major institutions and infrastructure.
TECOM’s Global Offering drew substantial demand from both the Qualified Institutional Offer and UAE Retail with total gross demand reaching AED35.4 billion ($9.6 billion), implying an oversubscription level of over 21 times in aggregate at the final price.
It had previously announced setting the final offer price for its IPO at AED2.67 ($0.72) per share.
The UAE Retail Offer achieved an oversubscription level of almost 40 times in aggregate, making it the highest oversubscription multiple ever for IPOs on the DFM.
As a result of the extremely strong demand, the final offer price was set at the top of the price range and the company has raised AED1.7 billion ($462 million) through the IPO.
TECOM houses more than 7,500 companies and 10 large business complexes including Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City.
In this context, DEWA attracted in April AED315 billion ($85.7 billion) of demand for the IPO, with buyers including sovereign wealth funds, private fund and 65,000 individual investors.
DEWA said in its prospectus the 18% share sale by the Dubai government was aimed at boosting trading liquidity in the stock market and raising its own profile with international investors.
The shares began trading on the DFM on April 12, with DEWA the largest company on the bourse with a market capitalization of AED124 billion ($33.8 billion).
Demand for DEWA’s IPO has been strong, prompting it to first raise the size of the institutional offer and then boosting the retail portion by almost three times on Saturday.
Dubai's deputy ruler, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, in November announced plans to take 10 government-linked companies public to boost stock market activity to three trillion dirhams (about $817 million).
