DUBAI, 27 March 2008 — Depa Ltd., a Dubai-based interiors contractor working on the world’s tallest building, said it is aiming for a $400 million IPO next month to finance expansion and acquisitions, and will list in Dubai and London.
The flotation will be the third primary listing on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), which the emirate set up in 2005 to encourage local companies to sell shares to the public, and for foreign companies to tap growing regional wealth.
Depa, which won a $163 million contract in 2005 to fit out apartments in Emaar Properties’ Burj Dubai, will also list global depositary receipts in London, Chief Executive Officer Mohannad Sweid told Reuters yesterday, ahead of a meeting with reporters to announce the initial public offering. The number of shares on offer, representing a 40 percent stake, will be determined after the pricing, decided on a book-building basis, Sweid said. The IPO would value the company at $1 billion.
“A big part of this money will go toward financing acquisitions in the next two years,” Sweid said. The company is looking at acquisitions in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, Sweid said declining to be more specific.
Like many real-estate-related companies in the Gulf, Depa is benefiting from a construction boom in the world’s biggest oil-exporting region, fueled by a five-fold increase in oil prices during the last six years.