Dubai’s DEWA to Consider Increasing IPO Size on High Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Dubai’s main power and water company may increase the number of shares on offer in the city’s biggest new stock sale in 15 years, according to people familiar with the matter.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority is seeking approval to offer more than the 3.25 billion shares it initially planned to sell, the people said, declining to be identified as the matter is not public.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much the more the utility would sell, but the people said the increase could be substantial as demand was significantly higher than the number of shares on offer.

DEWA wasn’t immediately available for comment. 

On Thursday, the firm set out plans to raise as much as $2.2 billion by selling a 6.5% stake. Books on the IPO were covered within hours of launching the deal, according to terms seen by Bloomberg. 

The IPO drew in six investors, including wealth funds Emirates Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, who agreed to subscribe for shares worth as much as 4.7 billion dirhams ($1.3 billion) at the offer price. 

The listing, which will make DEWA the biggest company on the emirate’s bourse, marks the first step in Dubai’s plan to reinvigorate its capital markets. The top end of the IPO price range would value the company at $34 billion, catapulting it into a list of the top 20 biggest listed utilities. 

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