UAE education provider Taaleem plans to raise $204m from IPO

UAE-based education provider Taaleem Holdings has announced the intent to list its ordinary shares for trading on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

The company, which operates a portfolio of 26 schools, seeks to raise a total capital of Dhs750m ($204m) from the initial public offering, which it plans to deploy to expand its K-12 schools network.

We are excited to announce our intention to list on @DFMalerts . We are the 2nd largest premium education provider in the UAE with a portfolio of 26 schools. ​
Subscriptions open on Thursday 10 November.​

For more information, visit https://t.co/0GPFK3JkXD pic.twitter.com/Nut8IWW4EP

— Taaleem (@Taaleem) October 31, 2022

The offering comprises individual subscribers forming its first tranche; professional investors making up the second tranche; and eligible employees and parents making consisting the third tranche. As much as 10 per cent of the company’s issued share capital has been allocated to the first tranche, while around 88 per cent and 2 per cent of the offer shares are allocated to the second and third tranches, respectively. Further, as part of the second offering, five per cent of the offering will be reserved to the EIA.

The subscription period for UAE retail investors, eligible employees and parents will open on November 10 and end on November 16, 2022. It will close a day later for professional investors. Taaleem shares are expected to start trading on or around November 29, 2022.

“The final offer price will be determined through the application of a book-building process, whereby a subscription orders ledger will be created through the subscription orders made only by professional investors,” a statement said.

“The IPO provides an attractive investment opportunity for investors to participate in the next phase of the company’s growth through the expansion of its premium K-12 segment, providing the platform for Taaleem to educate, inspire, and empower the students of today and tomorrow,” said Khalid Ahmed Humaid Matar Altayer, Taaleem’s board chairman.

“Our mix of 10 premium and 16 government-partnership schools provides diverse opportunities for our more than 27,000 students and more than 3,000 employees as at 31 August 2022 for the 2022-2023 academic year. It also provides investors with an attractive opportunity to invest in two distinct and fast-growing segments of the UAE education market,” added CEO Alan Williamson.

Taaleem’s schools consist of five International Baccalaureate curriculum schools, four British curriculum and one American curriculum school.

Dubai has witnessed a steady stream of IPOs in the last several months. The emirate listed three IPOs on its bourse this year, with district cooling firm Empower scheduled to begin trading on the Dubai stock exchange next month.

Empower will follow road-toll operator Salik, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and business park operator Tecom Group, which were listed earlier this year.

Read: Dubai toll operator Salik raises over $1bn from IPO

Read: Dubai’s TECOM Group completes IPO, raises Dhs1.7bn

The IPOs are part of the government’s plan to list 10 government and state-owned companies to increase the volume of its stock market to Dhs3tn.

Read: Dubai announces listing of 10 govt, state-owned companies on DFM