Emaar says received strong interest for IPO despite Saudi corruption purge

Dubai-listed Emaar Properties received “strong institutional and retail support” from investors for the recent initial public offering (IPO) of its local real estate development business, despite Saudi Arabia’s corruption probe this month, it said in a bourse statement on Monday.

“Despite recent events in Saudi Arabia, the company still received strong interest from regional investors. Furthermore, qualified institutional investors from Saudi Arabia were part of the top-10 investors in the IPO, and will comprise a significant shareholding in the company once the IPO process is complete,” Emaar said.

About 40 percent of available shares in the offering were allocated to international investors, resulting in an oversubscribed deal, the developer added.

Emaar has a sales backlog of AED 41 billion and a land bank of 170 million square feet gross floor area, the statement said, adding that the company is targeting a minimum dividend yield of 8.6 percent for the next three years.

Emaar on Sunday said it had priced the IPO of Emaar Development at AED 6.03 per share, against an indicative range of AED 5.7 and AED 6.9 set earlier this month.

According to the Bloomberg report, the top ten investors in the Emaar Development IPO made up about 50 percent of the deal and included the family office of a Saudi national, as well as funds linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family.