Dubai October 31 2022: Dubai is seeking to raise $362 million from selling a 10% stake in Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corp., the city’s fourth privatization this year as part of efforts to boost trading volumes on its stock exchange.
The district cooling firm, known as Empower, set the price range for its IPO at 1.31 dirhams ($0.36) to 1.33 dirhams a share, according to an advertisement in Gulf News. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and Emirates Power Investment are offering 1 billion shares in the IPO.
Empower will start taking investor orders for the IPO from Monday, with final pricing scheduled for Nov. 9. The company expects to make trading debut on the Dubai stock exchange on Nov. 15.
Empower’s IPO is part of the government’s privatization drive to increase liquidity and catch up with a flurry of share sales in neighboring Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. Dubai’s three listings this year, including that of Dubai Electricity, have raised about $7.6 billion combined.
Empower, established almost two decades ago, is 70% owned by Dubai Electricity. The firm expects to pay a minimum annual dividend of 850 million dirhams annually for two years after the IPO.
Citigroup Inc., Emirates NBD Capital, Merrill Lynch International and EFG-Hermes are managing the IPO. Moelis & Co. is the independent financial adviser to Empower.
