UAE Company Marka To Launch IPO In Dubai, Plans DFM Listing

Marka, a company created by prominent businessmen in the United Arab Emirates, is to launch next week the first initial public offer of shares on Dubai’s main stock market since 2009.

The 12-day offer of 275 million shares at Dhs1 (27 U.S. cents) each, representing 55 per cent of the company’s capital, has received final regulatory approval and will start on April 13, Marka said in a statement on Monday.

After the IPO, the company plans to list on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The rest of its capital was subscribed last month by 151 founders who include wealthy UAE businessmen, Marka said without naming the founders.

The company is still being incorporated, and while it says it will focus on the retail and food and beverage sectors in the UAE and the broader Gulf Arab region, it has not revealed details of its plans.

The DFM’s listing rules, published on its website, require documents to be submitted to regulators including “the company’s annual report for the two financial years prior to the submitting of the listing application.”

Marka said it would discuss listing issues at a press briefing later this week. The DFM and the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority did not immediately respond to requests to comment.

A rebound in Dubai’s equity and property prices in the past 18 months could attract investor interest in the IPO. The offer will be open to investors of all nationalities, provided 51 per cent of the equity is held by investors from the six Gulf Cooperation Council states.

IPOs in Dubai dried up when the emirate’s financial crisis erupted five years ago, and since then restrictive listing requirements have encouraged several UAE companies to list in London rather than at home.

Primary market activity has now begun to revive.

Dubai-based real estate investment trust Emirates REIT will list its shares on NASDAQ Dubai, the smaller of the emirate’s two stock exchanges, on Tuesday after a $175 million IPO which was 3.5 times oversubscribed. It is NASDAQ Dubai’s first IPO since the crisis.

Local firm CAPM Investment is financial advisor and lead manager of Marka’s IPO.