(Updates with books covered)
DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - UAE-based exchange house Al
Ansari Financial Services is looking to raise up to 772.5
million dirhams ($210.4 million) from an initial public offering
(IPO), it said on Thursday.
Al Ansari, which last week announced an intention to float
10% of the company on the Dubai Financial Market, will price its
shares between 1.00 and 1.03 dirhams, implying a valuation of
7.5 billion-7.73 billion dirhams, it said in a statement.
Books were covered shortly after opening, according to a
note to investors seen by Reuters.
Middle East companies bucked global trends last year to
raise about $22 billion through IPOs, according to Dealogic,
which was more than half the total for the wider Europe, Middle
East and Africa region.
UAE's National Bonds Corp, owned by the sovereign wealth
fund Investment Corporation of Dubai, has committed 200 million
dirhams as a cornerstone investor in Al Ansari's IPO, the
exchange house said.
The subscription for the IPO began on Thursday and will run
through March 23 for retail investors in the UAE and March 24
for qualified investors. The final price of the shares will be
set on March 27, with the listing likely on April 6.
The firm is targeting a minimum dividend of 600 million
dirhams for 2023, to be paid out in October and in April next
year.
The offer price range implies a minimum dividend yield of
about 7.77% to 8.00% in the 2023 financial year, Al Ansari said
in the statement.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, EFG Hermes UAE and Emirates NBD
Capital are joint global coordinators for the IPO.
($1 = 3.6724 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and
Sonia Cheema)
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