Emaar To Sell 25% Of Malls Business On Dubai Bourse

Dubai’s Emaar Properties said on Monday it will list up to 25 per cent of its malls business on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), a shift from earlier plans to list on the emirate’s smaller Nasdaq Dubai exchange.

The builder of one the world’s largest malls – Dubai Mall – said it had received regulatory approval for the primary listing of up to a quarter of Emaar Malls Group.

Companies listing on DFM are normally required to float stakes of at least 55 per cent but exceptions to the rule have been made in the past.

Nasdaq Dubai has a much lower free float requirement of 25 per cent, but it attracts less trading activity than the DFM and has only 10 listed equities.

Timing of the offering and listing would be announced later, the statement said.

It is expected to raise Dhs8 to Dhs9 billion ($2.18-$2.45 billion), making it one of the region’s largest equity offers since 2008.

Company officials previously said there might be a dual listing on Nasdaq Dubai, the smaller of the emirate’s two exchanges, and on the London Stock Exchange.

It was not clear whether the company still plans to list in London.

Dubai luxury developer DAMAC, the only real estate firm from the emirate to list in London, got a lukewarm response to its share offering in a sign that international investors are still wary of the emirate’s property market despite a recent recovery in prices.

Sources told Reuters in April that the developer is talking to regulators about the possibility of listing its shopping malls unit on the DFM.

The listing is a boost for the Dubai bourse where new IPO activity had died down after the emirate’s financial crisis in 2009. A recovery in the economy has prompted more companies to consider new listings.