DP World to raise $3.5b thru’ IPO
Monday, 22 October 2007
DP World Limited, the Dubai-owned ports company with terminals from the UK to China, plans to raise at least US$3.50 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) as the emirate turns to asset sales to attract international investors, reports Bloomberg.
DP World will sell about 20 per cent of its equity next month, Chairman Sultan bin Sulayem told reporters in Dubai recently. The sale would repay a $3.50 billion bond and provide cash to the government, he said, without being more specific.
The IPO, the biggest in the Middle East to be open to all investors, will support the emirate's ambition to become a global financial centre, Sulayem said.
The sale will achieve "Dubai's objectives of getting investors involved in one of its main drivers of growth, and putting the emirate firmly on the international capital-markets map," said Chavan Bhogaita, head of credit research at HSBC Holdings Plc in Dubai.
DP World's IPO follows Dubai's purchase of stakes in Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and London Stock Exchange Group Ltd. as the emirate vies with Qatar and Bahrain to be the region's dominant financial centre.
A successful sale might be copied by government-controlled companies including Nakheel PJSC, the developer of the world's biggest man-made islands.
The offering "will be good for Dubai," Sulayem said. "It could encourage many family companies" to sell stock.
DP World's shares will be listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, which is to be renamed as a Nasdaq venture following the September deal with the US company.
Dubai is using cash from the Gulf's oil-fuelled economic boom to establish a financial centre that would plug a trading gap between London and Singapore.
The emirate owns stakes in banks including HSBC, Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered Plc.
DP World had 2006 revenue of $2.10 billion, excluding joint ventures and associates, according to a company statement in Dubai Sunday. Sales for the six months ended June 30 were $1.20 billion, it said. DP declined to disclose earnings.
The stock will be offered to United Arab Emirates residents and Gulf Arab nationals and corporations, and to institutional investors elsewhere, the company said in a statement.
UAE applications will close on November 15 and pricing will be November 21, when the offer closes for institutions, DP said.
DP World will sell about 20 per cent of its equity next month, Chairman Sultan bin Sulayem told reporters in Dubai recently. The sale would repay a $3.50 billion bond and provide cash to the government, he said, without being more specific.
The IPO, the biggest in the Middle East to be open to all investors, will support the emirate's ambition to become a global financial centre, Sulayem said.
The sale will achieve "Dubai's objectives of getting investors involved in one of its main drivers of growth, and putting the emirate firmly on the international capital-markets map," said Chavan Bhogaita, head of credit research at HSBC Holdings Plc in Dubai.
DP World's IPO follows Dubai's purchase of stakes in Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and London Stock Exchange Group Ltd. as the emirate vies with Qatar and Bahrain to be the region's dominant financial centre.
A successful sale might be copied by government-controlled companies including Nakheel PJSC, the developer of the world's biggest man-made islands.
The offering "will be good for Dubai," Sulayem said. "It could encourage many family companies" to sell stock.
DP World's shares will be listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, which is to be renamed as a Nasdaq venture following the September deal with the US company.
Dubai is using cash from the Gulf's oil-fuelled economic boom to establish a financial centre that would plug a trading gap between London and Singapore.
The emirate owns stakes in banks including HSBC, Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered Plc.
DP World had 2006 revenue of $2.10 billion, excluding joint ventures and associates, according to a company statement in Dubai Sunday. Sales for the six months ended June 30 were $1.20 billion, it said. DP declined to disclose earnings.
The stock will be offered to United Arab Emirates residents and Gulf Arab nationals and corporations, and to institutional investors elsewhere, the company said in a statement.
UAE applications will close on November 15 and pricing will be November 21, when the offer closes for institutions, DP said.