Dubai: Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has invited investment banks to pitch for roles in the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its taxi and parking businesses.
The RTA is targeting a potential public share sale of the businesses around December to January, news agency Reuters said, citing sources.
The listing of the taxi business might take place first, followed by that of the parking division, the agency added.
Rothschild & Co. is advising the RTA on both potential deals, news agency Bloomberg said. However, when contacted by Gulf News, RTA did not confirm or deny the reports.
The transport authority is exploring options to monetise more of its assets after RTA raised $1 billion from an IPO of the city's road-toll operator, Salik Co., in 2022. The deal was by far the most successful IPO by Dubai last year, drawing $50 billion in orders. The shares have jumped almost 60 per cent from their offer price.
Salik's listing was part of Dubai's drive to raise trading volumes in the city's stock market by selling stakes in 10 state-owned companies. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) raised $6.1b in Q2 2022, becoming the largest MENA IPO for the year in terms of proceeds raised. In Q4 2022, ADX welcomed three listings – Americana, Burjeel Holdings PLC and Bayanat AI PLC, which raised a total of $14.0b. Furthermore, there were two new listings on DFM – Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), raising $724.1m, and Taaleem Holdings PSC with $204.2m. Dubai accounted for 40 per cent of IPO activity in the Gulf region last year, representing Dh673 billion.
Earlier today, Bloomberg also reported that Alef Education, an Abu Dhabi-based ed-tech firm, is considering an initial public offering in the UAE as the number of student enrollments surges.
