Daman Investments Plans Dubai Listing In Q1 2015

Daman Investments, a United Arab Emirates investment management firm, said on Monday it planned to list on the Dubai Financial Market during the first quarter of 2015 to expand its business and fund new opportunities at home and the wider region.

The company is the latest in the Gulf Arab state to announce plans to go public, joining a wave of firms eyeing a stock market listing after a long fallow period for flotations.

Dubai-based Daman will sell new shares equivalent to 55 per cent of the firm to the public, a statement said.

Chairman Shehab Gargash told Reuters Daman had a number of potential plans for the cash, including launching a fund, investing in a private equity venture and upgrading its internal infrastructure.

The price at which shares would be sold was being discussed with the regulator and figures on the company’s recent revenue and profit would be published once the talks concluded, Gargash said.

Daman – founded in 1998 – is backed by investors from the UAE and the wider Gulf region. Existing shareholders will be diluted to 45 per cent, although they could boost their holdings by investing in the offering.

Retail-focused investment firm Marka and Emaar Malls Group listed within a week of each other after hugely oversubscribed initial public offerings, while Amanat Holdings’ flotation is already covered by investor orders ahead of its closing on Tuesday.

GOAL FULFILLED

The listing has been a long-stated goal of the company, having announced as early as 2009 that it hoped to go public on either the Dubai or Abu Dhabi stock market – at the time identifying by 2012 as its target window.

However, like many firms, Daman’s plans were put on hold by the steep slump in regional equity markets following the global financial crisis, which saw stock markets slump and investor confidence in new issues drain – to the extent that there were no flotations on the Dubai bourse for around five years until Marka listed earlier this year.

Daman sold a 22.7 per cent stake to private investors via a placement of shares in June 2012, which valued the company at Dhs440 million ($119.8 million), although a previous fundraising round had valued Daman at around double that figure – showing the impact of the global financial crisis on UAE investment firms.

Emirates Investment Bank has been appointed financial adviser and lead manager of the offer, with law firm White & Case acting as legal adviser, the statement added.