By Nor Faridah Rashid, NNN-Bernama
Dubai : Dubai World, the Dubai government’s investment holding company, says it plans to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) of about 20 per cent of its global marine terminal operator, DP World, one of the world’s leading port operators.
The shares will be offered globally to institutional investors, residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents and nationals of the member states of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Dubai World announced here Sunday.
Dubai World said the IPO would be in the form of a sale of shares by DP World’s sole shareholder, Port & Free Zone World (P&FZ World), which would retain majority ownership.
The shares would be listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) at the end of November, it said in a statement. Investor applications are expected to begin from Nov 4 and close on Nov 15.
The Chairman of Dubai World and DP World, Sultan Ahmed Sulayem, said the move marked another step in the development of DP World from regional to global player.
“But importantly, it also signals the clear intent by Dubai World and Dubai itself, to be active participants in the international financial markets, with all the opportunities and responsibilities this brings,” he said in the statement issued in conjunction with the announcement at a press conference here.
He added that it would be the first homegrown Dubai company to be listed on the DIFX.
Reports put the value of DP World at 20 billion USD and that the IPO could be the largest in the Middle East.
DP World executive vice chairman and group chief executive officer of P&FZ World Jamal Majid Thaniah said in the first half of 2007, DP World saw an increase in throughput year on year of 23 per cent to 20.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot container equivalent units), and proforma adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of 453.7 million USD.
For the year ended Dec 31, 2006, and the six months ended June 30, 2007, DP World generated proforma revenue from operations (not including revenue attributable to its joint ventures and associates) of 2,076.0 million USD and 1,209.0 million USD respectively, and proforma adjusted EBITDA of 705.3 million USD and 453.7 million USD respectively.
DP World is the fourth largest marine terminal operator in the world by capacity and throughput with 42 container terminals spanning 22 countries.
Recently, Dubai World and Malaysia’s MMC Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding involving a 5.0 billion USD project to develop a maritime centre masterplan for areas in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, including MMC’s 2,255-acre land bank in the southern part of Johor state.