News

By Federico Maccioni

DUBAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The Dubai government is selling a 24.99% stake in Parkin, which oversees public parking operations in the emirate, through an initial public offering in the emirate's first privatisation deal this year, local newspaper Gulf News reported on Tuesday.

The offering begins on March 5, with a price range to be announced on the same day, and the subscription period ends on March 12.

Reuters was first to report in June last year that the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) was considering strategic options for its parking business and invited banks to pitch for roles in a potential IPO.

Parkin operates 175,000 parking spaces across Dubai, in addition to another 4,000 or so spaces at multi-storey car parks, and about 18,000 spaces at developer-owned facilities, according to the Gulf News report.

The RTA is monetising assets on behalf of the Dubai government as part of a wider privatisation programme to list state-linked companies to boost attention to its exchange.

The RTA raised $1 billion from the sale of a 25% stake in toll-road operator Salik in 2022 and another $315 million in December from the sale of another 24.99% stake in Dubai Taxi Corporation, its public taxi business.

Both deals garnered strong demand from investors, books were oversubscribed multiple times.

A post-COVID economic rebound, neutral political stance, ease of doing business, convenient time zones, and tax-free status have all contributed to Dubai attracting droves of wealthy individuals in recent years.

The number of residents in the city jumped by 100,240, official statistics show, reaching 3.65 million people on at the end of last year, compared with 3.55 million people on Jan. 1, 2023.

Companies domiciled in the Gulf Cooperation Council raised $11.0 billion in IPO proceeds in 2023, down 45% from 2022. GCC IPOs accounted for 40% of proceeds raised in EMEA during 2023, down from 56% during 2022, LSEG data showed.

(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Editing by Hadeel Al Sayegh, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Rashmi Aich)

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