A general view shows the Dubai Financial Market after Joe Biden won the U.S. presidency, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates November 8, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike
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DUBAI, April 6 (Reuters) – The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is expected to raise 22.32 billion dirhams ($6.1 billion) after its IPO on Wednesday in the Gulf’s biggest IPO since Saudi Aramcos has rated the highest price record deal 2019.
DEWA will add to growing volume from issuers in the Gulf region, where $3.5 billion was raised through IPOs this year, data from Refinitiv shows, and will outperform European listings even as global markets falter following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remain volatile.
Dubai’s Deputy Ruler and Finance Minister Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed said in a tweet that DEWA attracted demand of 315 billion dirhams for the IPO, with buyers including sovereign wealth funds, private funds and 65,000 retail investors.
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State-owned energy utility DEWA had set an indicative price range of 2.25 dirhams to 2.48 dirhams, with the highest level expected to fetch 22.32 billion dirhams for the Dubai government. Continue reading
In addition to raising money for Dubai, the IPO is designed to help the emirate’s stock market compete more effectively with larger rivals in the region, such as those in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
DEWA’s public share sale is the largest in the emirate to date and will also become the region’s largest since Saudi Aramco’s (2222.SE) IPO for $29.4 billion, the world’s largest.
DEWA said in its prospectus that the Dubai government’s 18 percent stake sale was aimed at increasing trading liquidity on the stock market and raising its profile with international investors.
The shares are scheduled to start trading on the Dubai Financial Market on April 12, with DEWA being the largest company on the exchange with a market capitalization of $33.8 billion.
Demand for DEWA’s IPO was strong, prompting it to first increase the size of its institutional offering and then increase its retail share by nearly threefold on Saturday. Continue reading
Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital and HSBC are joint global IPO coordinators, while Credit Suisse, EFG Hermes, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC and Goldman Sachs are joint bookrunners.
Emirates NBD and Moelis & Co acted as financial advisors.
($1 = 3.6726 UAE Dirham)
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Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Saeed Azhar; Edited by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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