Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is set to raise $6.1 billion (22.32 billion dirhams) after pricing its initial public offering at the top of the range on Wednesday, in the Gulf’s biggest IPO since Saudi Aramco’s record deal in 2019.
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Dubai’s deputy ruler and finance minister Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed said in a tweet that DEWA had attracted $85.76 (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 $0.61 (2.25 dirhams) to $0.68 (2.48 dirhams), with the top level expected to raise $6.08 billion (22.32 billion dirhams) for the Dubai government.
As well as raising money for Dubai, the IPO aims to help the Emirate’s exchange compete more effectively with bigger rivals in the region, such as those in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
DEWA’s public share sale is the biggest to date in the Emirate and is also set to become the region’s largest since Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO, the world’s biggest.
Demand for DEWA’s 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.
Read more:
Dubai’s DEWA boosts retail size in IPO amid strong demand
Dubai’s DEWA says increases IPO size to 17 percent, could raise as much as $5.7 bln
Two UAE-based companies announce near $200 million investment in landmark DEWA IPO
