Dubai: Dewa shares soar on debut, set for fast entry into FTSE index

Dubai: Dewa shares soar on debut, set for fast entry into FTSE index

The utility services provider’s shares jumped 21.7 per cent to Dh3.05 in the first couple of minutes of opening the trade

Published: Tue 12 Apr 2022, 5:10 PM

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) shares closed 15.7 per cent higher at Dh2.87 on their debut on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on the back of strong interest from retail and institutional investors.

As expected, the utility services provider’s shares jumped 21.7 per cent to Dh3.05 in the first couple of minutes of opening the trade on Tuesday, thanks to an overwhelming response from the investors.

After pricing its shares last week at Dh2.48 per share, Dewa sold nine billion shares in its initial public offering (IPO) to raise Dh22.3 billion, making this the largest IPO in the UAE and Europe, and the Middle East and Africa region so far in 2022.

The order book was oversubscribed 37 times, excluding cornerstone and strategic investors, as the company attracted Dh315 billion in demand for the IPO which includes sovereign wealth funds, private funds and 65,000 individual investors.

After selling 18 per cent in the public offering, the Government of Dubai owns the remaining 82 per cent of Dewa’s share capital.

After hitting Dh3 within minutes of opening trade,