Dubai seeks to raise $362m from district cooling firm IPO

Dubai is seeking to raise $362m from selling a 10 per cent stake in Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corp., the city’s fourth privatisation this year as part of efforts to boost trading volumes on its stock exchange.

The district cooling firm, known as Empower, set the price range for its IPO at Dhs1.31 ($0.36) to Dhs1.33 a share, according to an advertisement in Gulf News. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and Emirates Power Investment are offering 1 billion shares in the IPO.

Empower will start taking investor orders for the IPO from Monday, with final pricing scheduled for November 9. The company expects to make trading debut on the Dubai stock exchange on November 15.

Empower’s IPO is part of the government’s privatisation drive to increase liquidity and catch up with a flurry of share sales. Dubai’s three listings this year, including that of Dubai Electricity, have raised about $7.6bn combined.

Empower, established almost two decades ago, is 70 per cent owned by Dubai Electricity. The firm expects to pay a minimum annual dividend of Dhs850m annually for two years after the IPO.

Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, Merrill Lynch International and EFG-Hermes are managing the IPO.

Moelis & Co. is the independent financial adviser to Empower.