Empower IPO raises over Dhs2.6bn

Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) has successfully completed the book-building and public subscription process for its initial public offering (IPO). It has set the final offer price for its IPO at Dhs1.33 per share, at the top of the price range.

Following two successful upsize announcements, a total of two billion ordinary shares, equivalent to 20 per cent of Empower’s total issued share capital, were offered, the state news agency WAM reported.

Read: Dubai’s Empower increases IPO stake size from 10% to 15%

This will result in approximately Dhs2.7bn ($724m) of gross proceeds for DEWA and Emirates Power, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Holding, upon settlement.

Following the completion of the Empower IPO, DEWA and Emirates Power will continue to own 56 per cent and 24 per cent of the company’s existing share capital, respectively.

Upon listing, Empower will become the world’s largest district cooling services provider on a stock exchange.

The offering saw significant investor interest, with total gross demand for the IPO over Dhs124.6bn at the final offer price, implying an oversubscription level of around 47 times for all tranches combined at the final offer price. The qualified investor tranche attracted demand across the globe of circa Dhs105bn, implying an oversubscription level of 46 times at the final offer price, WAM reported.

The retail offering collected in excess of Dhs19.6bn implying oversubscription levels of 49 times.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chairman of Empower, said, “This incredible investor interest is deeply encouraging and illustrates that Dubai is a thriving, dynamic international financial centre with real depth and growing demand for its capital markets. It demonstrates Empower’s strong fundamentals and our company’s value proposition.”

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower added, “This is a historic moment for both Empower and Dubai, and marks an important milestone in the emirate’s ambition to be a leading international financial centre. We look forward to continuing to deliver on our strategy as a listed business.”

Empower is expected to commence trading on the DFM on November 15. At the listing, the company will have a market capitalisation of Dhs13.3bn.