Empower rises in Dubai trading debut after $724m IPO

Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corp. rose in its Dubai debut following an initial public offering that attracted $34bn in orders, underscoring the continued appetite for listings in the oil-rich Gulf.

Empower, as the district cooling firm is known, jumped as much as 9 per cent to Dhs1.45 ($0.39), valuing it at about $4bn. The shares later pared some gains to trade up 2.3 per cent Wednesday morning.

The Gulf has been one of the world’s most active IPO markets in 2022, a year otherwise marked by deep asset-sell-offs and fears of recession.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh have been buoyed by oil trading near $100 a barrel and investor inflows.

Empower shareholders Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and Emirates Power Investment doubled the size of the firm’s offering to 20 per cent in the face of huge demand. In all, they sold 2 billion shares at Dhs1.33 each, the top of the pricing range, raising Dhs2.66bn.

Empower is Dubai’s fourth privatisation in recent months as the financial hub seeks to ramp up liquidity. The IPOs have raised about $8.32bn combined. Still, not all companies have seen strong demand for their shares beyond their initial trading periods.

Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, Merrill Lynch International and EFG-Hermes arranged Empower’s deal. Moelis & Co. was the company’s independent financial adviser.