Parkin gets solid investor response; eyes $429mln in IPO

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Parkin, the largest provider of paid parking facilities in Dubai, is likely to raise as much as AED1.57 billion ($428 million) from its initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market, which received an overwhelming response from the investors as soon as books opened.

Announcing the price range for the offering, Parkin Company said it had set it between AED2 and AED2.10 per share, implying a market capitalisation at listing of between AED6 billion to AED6.3 billion.

The city’s public-parking business' biggest shareholder, Dubai Investment Fund, is looking at offloading a total of 749.7 million ordinary shares, representing 24.99% of the total issued share capital of the company, while reserving the right to amend the size of the IPO at any time prior to the end of the subscription period at their sole discretion, subject to applicable laws and the approval of the SCA.

Assuming all the shares offered are sold, the size of the Offering will be approximately AED1.5 billion to AED 1.57 billion, it stated.

The subscription period for retail investors began today (March 5) and will run until March 12, while for institutional investors, it ends on March 13. The final offer price is expected to be announced on March 14.

Parkin pointed out that all the shares are existing shares, held by the Dubai Investment Fund and the company will not receive any proceeds from the Offering.

Following the Offering, and subject to its size not being increased, the selling shareholder will continue to hold a 75.01% stake of the total issued share capital of the company, it stated.

On the overwhelming response, CEO Mohamed Al Ali said the IPO got sold out as soon as the books opened with investors rushing to snap up shares in the city’s public-parking business.

Parkin is the largest provider of paid parking facilities and services in Dubai and has the exclusive right to operate all paid public on-street parking, public off-street parking and public multi-storey car parks in the emirate.

With a track record spanning almost three decades, the Parkin team currently operates 197,000 paid parking spaces at strategic locations across Dubai.

"Parkin delivers best-in-class parking management capabilities and solutions in line with Dubai's economic, urbanization and social ambitions. We provide a critical infrastructure to the emirate with a systemic role in enabling mobility to support the city’s expansion plans," he noted.

"As Dubai continues to grow, our company will grow with it. The IPO will enable us to build on and accelerate our success; driving further innovation, delivering strong financial performance, and realizing the potential of our growth platform to scale up and diversify," remarked Al Ali.

"Testament to our attractive equity story, we are pleased to have received strong interest from investors following our intention to float on the DFM. At Parkin, we are steadfast in our commitment to delivering value to all our stakeholders and shaping the future of our industry for years to come," he added.