Dubai plans to encourage private and family-owned businesses to list on its stock market as the business hub seeks to catch up with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in the Middle East IPO rush.
The city merged its economic and tourism departments on Saturday, and one of the new entity’s main tasks is to prod private and family-owned businesses to sell shares on the Dubai bourse, according to a statement.
In the past week, Dubai has made a series of moves designed to attract listings to the city and catch up with regional rivals that have drawn billions of dollars over the past year. That included overhauling the board of the local stock exchange and plan to list state-owned utility DEWA — one of 10 planned over the coming months.
Some of the well-known private firms and family-owned businesses in Dubai include Majid Al Futtaim Holding, the operator of Carrefour SA stores in the Middle East, and Al Khaleej Sugar Co., owner of the world’s largest port-based sugar refiner.
Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange is due to make its trading debut next month after starting the process to sell a 30% stake in an initial public offering, according to its chief executive officer.
“We target to list the company in the first week of December,” Khalid Al Hussan said in an interview on Sunday. “The IPO is a continuation of our transformation,” he said, adding that the offering should give it a “better exposure and access to investors.”
The kingdom’s markets regulator last week signed off on Saudi Tadawul Group Holding’s offering of 36 million shares. SNB Capital, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup are the IPO’s global coordinators and underwriters.
The offering, which may be one of the biggest in the exchange sector since Euronext NV’s $1.2 billion listing in 2014, could value the bourse at between $3 billion and $4 billion, people familiar with the matter said last month.
The exchange will offer all shares to institutional investors, with a clawback to retail investors of up to 10% of shares. Al Hussan said IPO subscription for institutions will start on 21 November and for individuals on 30 November.
Separately, Al Hussan said the exchange’s clearinghouse was on course to be fully operational in early 2022.fin24
