Nasdaq Dubai plans to overhaul its listing rules in a bid to boost initial public offerings (IPOs) by family-owned entities, small businesses and regional companies.
All companies on the exchange will be required to prove there is "genuine" retail investor interest in the company before floating shares, Jeff Singer, the chief executive, said yesterday. Under the proposals, an IPO should reserve at least 10 per cent of the offer for individual retail investors, or have a minimum of 400 shareholders. Currently, a company can float 25 per cent on the exchange but it does not require any retail participation.
"It needs to be a genuine IPO. You can't come out to market with just 10 investors," Mr Singer said.
The exchange will also relax rules on small and medium-sized businesses and family-owned companies wanting to float shares.
A family firm will be able to float more than half of the company and still retain majority voting rights under the proposed rules.
Start-up companies, with less than three years in operation, will also be able to float, if they have more than US$10 million (Dh36.7m) in net assets. Previously a company needed to have been operating for at least three years before it launched an IPO.
The proposed rules will also allow companies with a market capitalisation as low as $20m to list, provided that pre-IPO shareholders do not sell their shares in the first year after the IPO.
"Investors will expect the price to be discounted to reflect illiquidity," said Paul Reynolds, the managing director and head of debt and equity advisory at Rothschild Middle East, adding that the risk associated with poor market conditions meant regional and international investors would expect a premium. "There may be a huge pipeline of privatisations, but only a few of these likely [small to medium] candidates should undertake an IPO," said Mr Reynolds
He said the smaller a business was, the more difficult it would be to attract investor interest because of the perceived limited returns associated with the company.
Listed firms, which include state-backed ports operator DP World and the contractor Depa, will also have to report results quarterly, rather than the current half-yearly updates.
The overhaul marks the first change to the exchange's rules since 2005.
The proposals are expected to come into force by the second quarter of this year after a two-month consultation period with the UAE's main market players, including the two other bourses - the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market General Index - and their regulator, the Securities and Commodities Authority.
But final approval will come from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Mr Singer said the rule change would help in the bid to be included on MSCI's Emerging Market Index, although some market commentators are sceptical about the proposals.
"What happens if you can't attract that 10 per cent [of retail investors], which at the moment is not realistic," said an international banker, who did not want to be identified.
Offering trading in the dirham is a key requisite for encouraging local investors to trade on Nasdaq Dubai, the banker said. The exchange, which denominates all trading in dollars, has been in discussions with the DFSA for several months but no decision has been made to implement a change in currency.
Retail investors create the bulk of trading activity on UAE markets as they typically buy and sell shares more frequently than institutional investors who draw in long-term investment. But individual investor activity has been thin on the ground since the onset of the global financial crisis.
Last month the telecommunications operator, Axiom, was forced to scrap its IPO on Nasdaq Dubai because of illiquid market conditions. It was closed to retail investors. Traded value on the exchange rose 22 per cent to $1.31 billion last year, up from $1.07bn in 2009, but the volume of traded shares slipped 15 per cent last year, compared with the pervious year.
fhalime@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
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Tips%20for%20travelling%20while%20needing%20dialysis
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EInform%20your%20doctor%20about%20your%20plans.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAsk%20about%20your%20treatment%20so%20you%20know%20how%20it%20works.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPay%20attention%20to%20your%20health%20if%20you%20travel%20to%20a%20hot%20destination.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPlan%20your%20trip%20well.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
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UAE gold medallists:
Omar Al Suweidi (46kg), Khaled Al Shehhi (50kg), Khalifa Humaid Al Kaabi (60kg), Omar Al Fadhli (62kg), Mohammed Ali Al Suweidi (66kg), Omar Ahmed Al Hosani (73), all in the U18’s, and Khalid Eskandar Al Blooshi (56kg) in the U21s.
AndhaDhun
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Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
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- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
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- Judy – 1
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- Marriage Story – 1
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
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