Esdarat IPO

[sharewadi]

Esdarat IPO is planned for second half of 2009 according to this report, so you still have a bit of time to save your dirhams for subscription . Interestingly, Esdarat, a Kuwait based company, plans to list on the DIFX first, and then the KSE.

Good news for the DIFX that more companies are looking at listing there, but I wonder why? What is the advantage for Esdarat to have a primary listing not on the stockmarket in the country where it is based?

Emirates Business 25 June 2008:

Esdarat to roll out IPO on DIFX By Rami Eljundi Kuwait-based Esdarat Holding Company (ESDARAT) will list on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) in the next nine months, a top company executive said. "We will first list on the DIFX and then on the Kuwait Stock Exchange," Mohammad Al Shuaib, chief executive of Esdarat, told Emirates Business. The company is offering 600 million shares in private placement to raise $300 million (Dh1.1bn) to fund its real estate development projects worth $2.78bn. The initial public offering is expected to take place within 12 to 18 months, subject to regulatory approvals. NBD Investment Bank, an Emirates NBD (ENBD) company, is the financial advisor and lead placement agent. "We have had a strong initial interest from investors across the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia, and expect to close the transaction by end of July," said Shahzad Shahbaz, chief executive officer, NBD Investment Bank. The company has plans to launch two mega residential projects in Bahrain and Egypt. The Bahraini project will include two 25-storey luxury residential towers at a total cost of $100 million. The Egyptian development will be a residential city covering an area of six million square metres, located on the road between Cairo and Alexandria. Al Shuaib said he would disclose the cost of the second project later in the year. Rawabi Abraj Al Bait, which is 170 metres from the Holy Haram area in the Holy City of Makkah, will comprise nine towers built with easy access to the holy site. The total area of the first phase of the project will be 824,270 sqm with a net leasable area of 358,196 sqm. Construction is expected to be complete in five years. "The Makkah real estate sector, especially around the Holy Mosque, offers one of the most exciting opportunities in Saudi Arabia and the region," said Al Shuaib.

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[sharewadi]

Esdarat Holding is still planning to do an IPO and list in Dubai - on the Nasdaq Dubai since it's no longer called the DIFX. I'm not sure what's new in this report, except maybe the timeline. Probably not the best time to be looking at IPOs with many Nasdaq Dubai, DFM and ADX companies trading at well below IPO prices. Good luck to Esdarat then ...

Emirates Business 15 January 2009:

Esdarat to list on Nasdaq Dubai By Karen Remo-Listana Kuwait-based Esdarat Holding Company (ESDARAT) plans to list on Nasdaq Dubai (NDAQ) in the second half of 2009 to fund real estate development projects worth $2.8 billion (Dh10.2bn), Emirates Business has learned. Esdarat, which is set to develop the largest private real estate project around the Holy City of Makkah, first announced its intention to go public in June last year. The company closed a $110 million private placement with Emirates NBD Capita, formerly NBD Investment Bank, in December. But the amount raised in the private placement was only 37 per cent of the original target of $300m. Imad Awad, Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets at Emirates NBD Capita, said the management had decided to raise the remaining amount through an IPO. "We are hopefully planning to do it in 2009, that is still our target right now," he added. "You hope for the best and you plan for the worst. But by Q4 we should be able to float an IPO." Esdarat plans to launch two mega residential projects in Bahrain and Egypt. The $100m Bahraini project will include two 25-storey luxury residential towers. The Egyptian development will involve building a residential city covering an area of six million square metres along the road between Cairo and Alexandria. The company plans to list on Nasdaq Dubai – formerly the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) – first and then on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The aim is to attract a diversified investor base. Analysts view Esdarat's move as a sign that the IPO market is heading towards a gradual recovery. IPO activity in the Middle East has declined noticeably in the past two months, mirroring investor sentiment and the global economic downturn, according to Ernst & Young's year-end IPO Update. In October and November $22.4m was raised from three regional IPOs compared with $6bn from 10 floatations in the same period in 2007. Azhar Zafar, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at E&Y Middle East, said investor confidence and willingness to list had been affected by market conditions. But despite the drop in the number of listings the pipeline of firms preparing for IPOs remains robust. "This reflects the new corporate understanding that the journey to an IPO is a transformational process," Zafar said. "Our research shows that outperforming companies start preparing to list a full 12 to 24 months before actually going public." Imad Ghandour, Chairman of the Information and Statistics Committee at Gulf Venture Capital Association, said: "The process for listing a firm on an exchange is a long one and its alteration means a strategic shift for the company. "The current turbulence in the local exchanges has been there for only a few months and I doubt that it has yet resulted in a deep and irreversible impact on the appetite of investors."

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