https://arab.news/85aq9
- The shares are set to begin trading on the Dubai Financial Market on April 12, with DEWA the largest company on the bourse with a market capitalization of $33.8 billion
DUBAI: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is set to raise 22.32 billion dirhams ($6.1 billion) after pricing its initial public offering at the top of the range on Wednesday, in the Gulf鈥檚 biggest IPO since Saudi Aramco鈥檚 record deal in 2019.
DEWA will add to growing volume from issuers in the Gulf, where $3.5 billion has been raised from IPOs this year, data from Refinitiv shows, exceeding European listings even as global markets remain volatile after Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.
Dubai鈥檚 deputy ruler and finance minister Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed said in a tweet that DEWA had attracted 315 billion dirhams of demand for the IPO, with buyers including sovereign wealth funds, private fund and 65,000 individual investors.
State utility DEWA had set an indicative price range of 2.25 dirhams to 2.48 dirhams, with the top level expected to raise 22.32 billion dirhams for the Dubai government.
As well as raising money for Dubai, the IPO aims to help the Emirate鈥檚 exchange compete more effectively with bigger rivals in the region, such as those in 抖阴短视频 and Abu Dhabi.
DEWA鈥檚 public share sale is the biggest to date in the Emirate and is also set to become the region鈥檚 largest since Saudi Aramco鈥檚 $29.4 billion IPO, the world鈥檚 biggest.
DEWA said in its prospectus the 18 percent 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 are set to begin trading on the Dubai Financial Market on April 12, with DEWA the largest company on the bourse with a market capitalization of $33.8 billion.
Demand for DEWA鈥檚 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.
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 advisers.