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Dubai toll-road operator Salik rose as much as 20% above its listing price on its market debut on Thursday in a sign that investors still have an appetite for local flotations despite shaky global markets.
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The company, which started trading under the ticker symbol “SALIK”, saw its shares jump to Dh2.41 in early trading on the DFM, giving it a market value of about Dh17.3B ($4.7B). Shares of the company settled 11% above the listing price to Dh2.22 at the close of trading on Thursday.
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Salik raised Dh3.735B ($1.017B) from its initial public offering this month and is the third listing in Dubai in 2022. The IPO was more than 49 times oversubscribed across all tranches, with total gross demand at Dh184.2B. The company is the third state-linked entity to execute a Dubai listing successfully this year in a programme aimed at attracting investor interest in the domestic stock exchange.
Why it matters
Salik's offering is part of Dubai's plans to list 10 state-owned companies to increase the size of its financial market to about Dh3T. The emirate also plans to set up a Dh2B market maker fund to encourage the listing of more private companies from sectors such as energy, logistics and retail. Earlier this year, DEWA raised Dh22.41B from its IPO, making it the largest public float in the Middle East and Europe since Saudi Aramco went public in 2019.
