Dubai’s Shuaa Capital lists $100m SPAC on Nasdaq New York

Shuaa Capital, a Dubai-based asset management and investment banking platform, has priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 10,000,000 units of Shuaa Partners Acquisition Corp I at $10 per unit.

The $100m Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) will be listed on Nasdaq Global Market in New York and will begin trading on March 2, 2022 under the ticker symbol (SHUAU).

Each unit issued in the IPO consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant.

Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share after the consummation of a business combination. Only whole warrants will be exercisable, Shuaa said in a filing to Dubai Financial Market where it is also listed.

The SPAC is sponsored by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shuaa, which recently led the successful listing of Anghami, the first Arab technology company on Nasdaq, via a similar SPAC transaction.

“Following Shuaa’s participation in the Anghami de-SPAC transaction, we are excited to announce the launch of our own SPAC vehicle, which will be focused on technology and/or tech-enabled financial services businesses based out of the MENAT region,” said Fawad Tariq Khan, managing director and head of investment banking at Shuaa, and CEO of Shuaa Partners Acquisition Corp I.

Shuaa led a funding round for Anghami and subsequently invested and advised Anghami on its merger with Nasdaq-listed SPAC Vistas Media Acquisition Company and arranged $30m investment via private investment in public equity.

Read: UAE’s Anghami, first Arab tech company to list on Nasdaq, begins trading

SPACs listed on Nasdaq provide “acquisition currency”, which is important for businesses aiming to expand through acquisitions, where they are able to fund transactions through issuing shares listed on one of the world’s most liquid and recognised stock exchanges.

Shuaa Capital achieved a net profit of Dhs40m in FY 2021, down 68 per cent year-on-year from Dhs125m in 2020. Its EBITDA declined from Dhs350m in FY 2020 to Dhs233m in 2021 and stood at Dhs422m adjusted for net one-off items.