'Salik' announces offer price at AED 2 per share

Dubai's toll gate operator Salik Company has announced the offer price and start of the subscription period for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

The price for the offering has been set at AED 2 per share.

The total offering size is expected to be AED 3 billion ($817 million), implying a market capitalisation at listing of AED15 billion ($4 billion), a company statement said on Tuesday.

"Salik plays a leading role in Dubai’s urban development plans. The growth of the city is in tandem with the growth of Salik, and this offering represents an exciting opportunity for investors to be a part of that journey," highlighted Ibrahim Sultan Al Haddad, Chief Executive Officer of Salik.

"We are delighted by the strong interest we have received since announcing our intention to float. As a technologically advanced core infrastructure asset positioned to benefit from Dubai’s expansion plans, and given its unique capex-light business model, we believe Salik represents an attractive investment proposition for both institutional and retail investors."

A total of 1,500,000,000 ordinary shares, equivalent to 20 per cent of Salik’s total issued share capital, will be offered, with the Selling Shareholder reserving the right to increase the size of the offering at any time prior to the end of the subscription period at its sole discretion, subject to applicable laws and approval of the Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA).

All shares to be offered shall represent the sale of existing shares held by the Dubai government.

The offering is available to the following subscribers; individual and other investors in the UAE as defined in the prospectus in Arabic, and referred to as "First Tranche" subscribers; Certain eligible employees (the Eligible Employees) as defined in the UAE prospectus and referred to as "Third Tranche" subscribers; an offering to professional investors and other investors in a number of countries, including in the UAE, outside the United States of America in reliance on Regulation S (the Qualified Investor Offering) and referred to as "Second Tranche" subscribers.

As part of the Qualified Investor Offering, and in accordance with both the Companies Law and the Dubai Law, five percent of the Offering will be reserved for offer to the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA), and five percent of the Offering will be reserved for offer to the Pensions and Social Security Fund of Local Military Personnel.

The IPO subscription period starts today and runs until September 20 for the UAE Retail Offering and September 21 for the Qualified Investor Offering.

The completion of the Offering and Admission is currently expected to take place on September 29, subject to market conditions and obtaining relevant regulatory approvals in the UAE, including approval of Admission to listing and trading on the DFM.

On September 12, the Company entered into cornerstone investment agreements with the UAE Strategic Investment Fund (through Emirates NBD AM SPC), Dubai Holding, Shamal Holding and the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund (ADPF) (together, the Cornerstone Investors), pursuant to which each of the Cornerstone Investors severally (and neither jointly nor jointly and severally) has committed to purchase shares in the Qualified Investor Offering at the Offer Price.

In aggregate, Cornerstone Investors have committed up to c. AED606 million ($165 million) to the IPO with their shares subject to a 180-day lock-up arrangement, following listing.