RIYADH: Dubai’s recent aggressive IPO moves have helped more than double the value of its exchange operator, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) over two weeks, to about 20 billion dirhams ($5.4 billion), Bloomberg reported.
Including Monday’s 11 percent gain, the shares have rallied about 145 percent since Nov. 1. The city’s benchmark index is up 12.2 percent in the same period.
Dubai's bourse is now second to Abu Dhabi, according to Bloomberg.
Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, planned to grab a slice of the IPO action by listing 10 state-owned firms, including utility DEWA -- likely to be the city’s biggest deal -- and its Salik road toll collection system.
Private and family-owned businesses are also being encouraged to sell shares on the local bourse.
Salik is a “cash machine,” Chief Strategy Officer at Al Dhabi Capital, Mohammed Ali Yasin, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “2022 could be a very successful year for the DFM,” he said.
In addition, one potential IPO would mark the first time that an information technology firm has traded on the platform.
Dubai-based information technology company StarLink plans to go public early next year, in what would represent a rare listing on Nasdaq Dubai, Bloomberg reported.
The firm - which is not related in any way to Elon Musk’s satellite broadband provider of the same name - is working with Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes.
It expects to finalize its listing on the Nasdaq Dubai bourse in the first quarter of next year 2022, CEO Nidal Othman said in an interview.
The company has an annual revenue of around $400 million and $16 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, which would give it a valuation of around $250 million, he said.
StarLink provides cybersecurity and cloud services across the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has called banks to pitch for a role on an IPO that could value the utility at $25 billion, Bloomberg reported.
DEWA has named Moelis as an adviser on what will likely be the city’s biggest listing yet and the Dubai government-owned company would likely choose a mix of international and local banks.
While Dubai companies are required to sell at least 25 per cent of their shares in the IPO, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority may attempt to list a smaller amount initially, according to Bloomberg.
