An Empower district cooling plant within the Dubai International Financial Centre area. Bloomberg
An Empower district cooling plant within the Dubai International Financial Centre area. Bloomberg
An Empower district cooling plant within the Dubai International Financial Centre area. Bloomberg
An Empower district cooling plant within the Dubai International Financial Centre area. Bloomberg

Dubai raises Empower's IPO size to 20% on strong investor demand


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Dubai has increased the size of the stake being sold through an initial public offering in Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) to 20 per cent, citing strong investor demand and oversubscription of shares.

The selling shareholders, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Emirates Power Investment, increased the size from the previous 15 per cent and will now together sell two billion shares, up from 1.5 billion earlier, Empower said on Friday.

Dewa and Emirates Power Investment will own 56 per cent and 24 per cent of Empower’s existing share capital, respectively, following the offering.

“The selling shareholders reserve the right to amend the size of the offering tranches, as well as the size of the offering, at any time prior to the end of the subscription period,” the company said in a statement.

Empower on Monday set the price for its IPO between Dh1.31 and Dh1.33 per share. The company may raise about Dh2.66 billion ($724 million) from the stake sale based on its indicated price range.

The subscription period began on October 31 and is set to close on November 7 for UAE retail investors and on November 8 for qualified institutional investors.

The final offer price is set to be announced on November 9 and Empower expects shares to begin trading on the Dubai Financial Market on November 15.

The UAE Strategic Investment Fund, Shamal Holding and the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund are cornerstone investors in the IPO, with a total commitment of up to Dh335m.

Empower's IPO is part of Dubai's plans to list 10 state-owned companies and increase the size of its financial market to about Dh3 trillion. The emirate also plans to set up a Dh2bn market maker fund to encourage the listing of more private companies from sectors such as energy, logistics and retail, it said in November.

Empower was established by royal decree as a joint venture in 2003 to provide energy through its various plants to the emirate's property sector.

The company has become the world’s largest district cooling services provider. It will have 81 district cooling plants by the end of 2022 and a network that is more than 350 kilometres long, its website said.

While capital markets in the US and Europe have slumped amid inflation woes and fears of a looming recession, equity markets in the GCC and broader Mena region have had a flurry of IPOs.

Saudi Arabia-based Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu, better known as Marafiq, said it is pushing ahead with plans to list its shares on the Tadawul.

Borouge, the joint venture between Adnoc and Austrian chemicals producer Borealis, surged as much as 20 per cent on its first day of trading in June after raising $2bn in Abu Dhabi’s biggest listing.

The Mena region recorded a 500 per cent annual increase in the number of listings in the first six months of this year, with 24 IPOs raising $13.5bn, an EY report showed. In the second quarter of 2022, nine IPOs raised about $9bn.

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Takreem Awards winners 2021

Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)

Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)

Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)

Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)

Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)

Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)

Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)

Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)

Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)

Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)

Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)

First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

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The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

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The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tamkeen's offering
  • Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
  • Option 2: 50% across three years
  • Option 3: 30% across five years 
UAE jiu-jitsu squad

Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)

Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

Updated: November 04, 2022, 5:59 PM