Dubai business park operator TECOM plans July listing

DUBAI: Dubai plans to sell a 12.5% stake in business park operator TECOM Group in an initial public offering (IPO) that will list its shares on the emirate’s exchange, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

It is the second offering from the emirate this year after Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) raised $6.1 billion in the largest offering in the Gulf since 2019.

Reuters first reported in November that Dubai Holding, the investment vehicle of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was considering an IPO of TECOM Group.

TECOM operates 10 business districts across Dubai covering six sectors including technology, media and manufacturing.

Dubai Holding Asset Management (DHAM) will sell 625 million ordinary shares in TECOM in the offer that opens on June 16, the company said in an intention to float document.

It expects its shares to be admitted for trading on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on July 5.

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The company said it expects to pay a dividend of 800 million dirhams ($217.83 million) for every financial year over the next three years.

TECOM’s revenue for last year was 1.77 billion dirhams and core earnings for the same period was 1.17 billion dirhams, it said.

TECOM has been agile regarding operational efficiencies, has been able to control expenditure and has been able to weather pressure from the coronavirus pandemic, DHAM Chief Executive Malek Al Malek said at a news briefing.

A “balance, between business and healthcare has been one of the reasons the city continues to grow despite all these challenges,” said Malek, who becomes chairman of TECOM after it lists.

“We have seen the expansion of companies that are completely back to work in their offices,” he said. A hybrid model of working from home and in the office will not compromise workspace demand, he said, but companies will need business districts to help address challenges when it comes to working remotely and creating communities in their offices.

Dubai’s deputy ruler, Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed, in November announced plans to take 10 government-linked companies public to boost stock market activity.