Alamy via Reuters
ICD worth $340bn
Emirates NBD already listed
Strong IPO candidates
The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the principal investment arm of the emirate’s government, could potentially turn to the capital markets with a raft of listings over the next year or so, according to analysts.
Established in 2006, ICD is worth about $340 billion and already has one of its crown jewels – Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets – listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).
Shares in Emirates NBD have almost tripled – or risen 174 percent – over the last five years.
An initial public offering (IPO) by construction company Alec Engineering, which ICD acquired in 2017 from Abu Dhabi-based Al Jaber Group, is expected to take place around June and raise about $500 million.
Probably ICD’s best known asset is Emirates, the world’s third-largest airline, in terms of scheduled revenue passenger-kilometres flown.
“The fund could use the ongoing Gulf IPO boom to monetise and list its existing holdings,” said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Dubai-based Century Financial.
“Most likely, ICD would be looking to firms from the transportation and related services segment [to sell].”
Food delivery company Talabat was the biggest IPO in the UAE last year, raising AED7.5 billion ($2 billion) before it was listed on the DFM.
UAE public parking operator Parkin raised AED1.57 billion, and supermarket Spinneys raised AED1.38 billion before its DFM listing. None of these companies are linked to ICD.
People have long asked about an Emirates airline IPO. Its chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, always says the same thing: “If they tell me to do it, I will.”
Nearby competitor, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, is expected to announce its IPO soon, Reuters has reported.
ICD has other well-known assets it can sell off or sell part of, including low-cost carrier Flydubai, aviation services company Dubai Aerospace Enterprises and global air services company Dnata, a subsidiary of Emirates Group.
Steve Allen, Dnata’s CEO, has previously told AGBI: “Obviously, with good results, then it would be a great company to IPO. That goes without saying.”
Transportation made up almost half – or 47 percent – of ICD’s revenue in 2023 and almost one third of its near AED61 billion profit that year.
“Their ability to IPO will depend both on the companies and the liquidity situation,” said Rachel Ziemba of Ziemba Insights, an advisory company in New York.
Other strong ICD candidates for IPO include Dubai Duty Free, manufacturing business Ducab and Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s largest non-oil company and one of the largest aluminium producers in the world.
Though primarily Dubai focused, ICD also has investments abroad, spread across 80 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.
Robert Mogielnicki, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said: “With looming concerns over the impact of tariffs in European, Asian and other markets, ICD will have to navigate some uncertain macroeconomic waters.”
