Dubai Electricity & Water Authority to sell 6.5% stake in IPO

State-owned Dubai Electricity & Water Authority plans to sell a 6.5 per cent stake in an initial public offering in what could be the city’s biggest listing.

The offer price range will be announced on March 24 with an expected trading debut on April 13, according to an advertisement published by the state-owned utility in Gulf News.

The banks managing the process are Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority is pushing ahead with the listing even though Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has effectively shut IPO markets. Still, Gulf markets are so far proving resilient to the volatility as surging local stock markets support deal flow on the back of soaring oil prices.

. @DEWAOfficial announces its intention to proceed with an initial public offering and to list its ordinary shares for trading on the Dubai Financial Market @DFMalerts. https://t.co/ruhxX2DpYD pic.twitter.com/A0fJae0pdO

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 15, 2022

New listings in Middle East financial hubs such as Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have attracted a flood of cash. Investors placed $126bn in bids for Arabian Internet & Communications Services’s $966m IPO in Riyadh last year, while Adnoc Drilling attracted more than $34bn of orders for its IPO in Abu Dhabi.

The utility’s IPO is part of Dubai’s plans to list 10 state-owned companies and revive trading volumes.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority caters to the city’s 3.4 million residents and had 13.4 gigawatts of power capacity last year, according to its website. The utility is considering tripling its annual dividend target to $1.69bn after listing, according to people familiar with the matter.