Dewa IPO in big retail tranche boost; deal size hits $513m
DUBAI, April 2, 2022
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that it has increased the number of shares offered in the First Tranche (Retail) of its initial public offering from 260 million to 760 million shares following significant demand and oversubscription from retail investors.
After receiving approval from the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), the Dubai government as the selling shareholder, took the decision to increase the size of the Retail Tranche from 260 million shares to 760 million shares.
This means that the number of shares offered in the IPO has increased from 8.5 billion ordinary shares to 9 billion ordinary shares, which would result in a free float of 18% of the utility's share capital, with the Dubai government continuing to own 82% of Dewa's share capital.
Dewa was created in 1992 following the merger of the Dubai Electricity Company and the Dubai Water Department.
The exclusive electricity and water utility provider in Dubai, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and potable water to end users throughout the emirate.
Dewa also owns 70% of Empower, a major district cooling services provider that owns, manages, operates and maintains district cooling plants and affiliated distribution networks across Dubai.
Based on the previously announced price range of AED2.25 to AED2.48 per share, the retail tranche will now be in the range of AED1.71 billion to AED1.88 billion ($465.62 million and $513.22 million).
Including investors that participated in the third tranche (Dewa's eligible employees), retail investors will represent 9.2% of the total upsized deal, it stated.
The subscription period for the Dewa IPO closes today (April 2) for UAE retail investors and on April 5 for qualified domestic and international institutional investors.
The Dubai utility firm is expected to list on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on or around April 12.
