Dubai’s Emaar Says Watching Market Conditions For Hotels IPO

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest listed real estate developer, is watching the markets closely to make a decision on a time frame for listing its hotels business, the company said on Thursday.

“The timing of the IPO will be dependent on the market conditions. We are watching the markets closely and will take a decision to list at the appropriate time,” an Emaar spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

This comes after a Bloomberg report said Emaar had hired Rothschild as advisor for a planned listing of the hotels operations in the second half of this year.

Shares in Emaar were up 2.6 per cent to Dhs7.9 in early trade on Thursday as part of an overall market rally.

“Emaar’s strategy is to make its business segments independent listed companies. This approach aims to provide the businesses with appropriate financial and operational means to grow faster and become among the most successful companies in their industries,” the statement added.

The developer sold a 15.4 per cent stake in retailing unit Emaar Malls Group in an initial public offer in September, raising $1.6 billion after a heavy oversubscription. After the listing, it said an offer of Emaar Hospitality would follow “as soon as possible”.