Middle East alternative asset manager Investcorp sets IPO price range for vehicle

Middle East alternative asset manager Investcorp set the price range on Thursday for the initial public offering (IPO) of its investment vehicle, potentially raising up to $402.7m with an equity valuation of up to $1.37bn.

The price range for Investcorp Capital was set at Dhs1.90 to Dhs2.30 per share, said the company. It plans to offer 643 million ordinary shares and wants to list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The shares are expected to be priced on November 10.

Reuters reported in June some of the initial plans for the vehicle, which will operate as an independent company, and hold Investcorp’s private market co-investments across assets including credit, real estate and private equity.

The planned flotation from Investcorp with $50bn in assets under management, is the first major public deal from the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas conflict unsettled regional markets.

Abu Dhabi’s stock index is down just under 3 per cent since the conflict began on October 7, and down 7 per cent year-to-date.

Investcorp growth strategy

Founded in 1982, making it one of the oldest Middle Eastern private equity houses, Investcorp is best known globally for listing luxury goods brands such as Gucci and Tiffany & Co. Still, it has increasingly branched out into other sectors.

Investcorp said on Thursday that IVC Strategic Investment, a special purpose vehicle, signed up as a cornerstone investor in the IPO with a commitment of roughly $250m.

The vehicle was set up to act as an aggregator of orders from certain wealth management investors and a prominent Abu Dhabi-based investor, the company added.

The vehicle includes the top 160 investors from the six Gulf countries and the IPO has been covered in the first hour by strong demand from local, GCC and international institutional investors, a source familiar with the matter said.

Under the leadership of Mohammed Al Ardhi, currently the executive chairman, Investcorp has grown its assets under management fivefold over the last seven years by diversifying into sectors including infrastructure and insurance.

It listed two blank check companies on the Nasdaq, and has also diversified its sources of fundraising. Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Company acquired 20 per cent of the firm in 2017.

GCC IPO activity

Investcorp joins a growing number of companies looking to list in the region, where there were 23 new stock market listings in the first half of 2023, more than any other first-half total since 2008.

IPO activity in the Gulf is picking up after the pace slowed from an exceptional 2022. Saudi Arabia and the UAE led new listings that year, raising nearly $22bn – more than half the total for the wider Europe, Middle East and Africa region, Dealogic data shows.

By contrast, private equity firm CVC has postponed plans for a European IPO this year due to unfavourable market conditions, a person with direct knowledge of the plans said on Wednesday.

Read: GCC stock markets are hitting record highs. Here’s why