Dubai party hotel operator FIVE taps Citi, Deutsche Bank for IPO next year

Dubai-based party hotel operator FIVE Holdings is working with banks on a planned initial public offering next year, joining a growing number of companies in the emirate that are listing on the stock exchange.

FIVE, which operates luxury hotels in Dubai, Ibiza and Switzerland, is working with Citi and Deutsche Bank on the deal, said the people, who declined to be identified as the matter was not public.

FIVE Holdings, Citi and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

FIVE owns one of Dubai’s biggest party hotels, where guests can park their supercars inside a nightclub for $2,723 (Dhs10,000). It also offers an even more exclusive party in the sky for the super-rich on its own 16-passenger private jet for $14,000 an hour.

Chairman Kabir Mulchandani said in April that the company, which estimates its own worth at $2.5bn to $3bn, planned to list in Dubai and was in talks with advisers about a potential dual listing, without elaborating on specific locations.

The GCC IPO market has been buoyant this year and included supermarket chain franchisee Spinneys SPINNEYS.DU, which priced its IPO at the top of its indicative price range last month. UAE-based hypermarket and mall operator Lulu is also expected to go public later this year, Reuters previously reported.

Any deal would test investor appetite for the small but growing entertainment sector in Dubai that is geared towards expats and tourists, against the backdrop of the socially conservative Gulf region which is opening up to new industries to diversify away from oil.

Dubai, the biggest tourism and trade hub in the Middle East, was quick to reopen after the pandemic. That, along with an influx of Russians and business professionals as well as relaxed social and visa rules, helped fuel an economic boom that has also seen property prices and rents balloon.

FIVE could also attract money flowing into companies with environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.

Last year, the company scored a top ESG rating for a green bond that helped purchase Spanish group Pacha, in a deal worth $321.9m (EUR303m).

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