Al Ansari Exchange raises Dhs773m in IPO, attracts bids worth Dhs12.7bn

Al Ansari Financial Services has set the final offer price for its initial public offering (IPO) at Dhs1.03 per share, at the top of the previously announced price range, following the completion of the book building and subscription process for the IPO on March 24.

Read: Al Ansari Financial Services IPO: subscription starts, share price announced

The IPO attracted considerable demand from both the qualified investor offering and the UAE retail offer, with total gross demand reaching more than Dhs12.7bn, including cornerstone investor National Bonds.

Excluding the cornerstone tranche of Dhs200m and based on the final price, the global offering was oversubscribed around 22 times.

The qualified investor offering drew more than Dhs10.2bn in orders, including the Dhs200m commitment from National Bonds.

Excluding the cornerstone tranche, qualified investor books were more than 19 times covered.

Al Ansari IPO sees a good response

The qualified investor offering saw strong demand from both international and regional investors, with a good representation from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, highlighting the strong brand recognition of the group across the GCC region.

The UAE retail offer drew significant demand with more than Dhs2.5bn in orders, and the total number of applications through the receiving banks and Dubai Financial Market’s (DFM) online platform reached almost 15,000.

In response to the overwhelming demand from retail investors, as previously announced,  Al Ansari Holding exercised its right to increase the allotment to the UAE retail offer to 56.25 million shares, which represents 7.5 per cent of the total number of shares on offer.

Al Ansari Financial Services increases the number of shares allocated to Retail Investors in Its Initial Public Offering #IPO #aafs https://t.co/pc1QskPjbF

— Al Ansari Exchange (@AlAnsariEx) March 24, 2023

Mohammad Ali Al Ansari, chairman of Al Ansari Financial Services, said: “The remarkable investor interest we drew from across the UAE, regional and international investors demonstrates the strong brand reputation that Al Ansari Financial Services has built over its long and rich history.

“It is also a testament to the attractiveness of the UAE and wider GCC economies and the investment community’s confidence in Dubai’s public equity markets and the DFM.”

“I would like to personally welcome all our new shareholders, including our cornerstone investor, National Bonds, and invite them to become strategic partners as we realise our growth ambitions and develop and commit to an actionable ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy as we create greater sustainable long-term value for all our stakeholders.”

Rashed Ali Al Ansari, group chief executive officer of Al Ansari Financial Services, said: “Through this IPO and as a publicly listed company, we are offering investors an opportunity to be part of a business that has significant growth opportunities driven by the UAE and other GCC countries’ favourable macroeconomic and industry trends. At the same time, the group plans to reward its shareholders through generous dividend distributions, as defined in our dividend policy.

A total of 750,000,000 (seven hundred and fifty million) shares, equivalent to 10 per cent of the group’s issued share capital, will be admitted for trading on the DFM on April 6.

At the final price, and upon listing, the dividend yield will be a minimum of 7.8 per cent and the market capitalisation of the Group will be Dhs7.73bn ($2.10bn. Following the completion of the IPO, Al Ansari Holding will continue to own 90 per cent of the group’s issued share capital.

Al Ansari Financial Services is expected to commence trading under the symbol “ALANSARI” and ISIN “AEE01198A238”.

Investors that participated in the UAE retail offering will be notified of their allocation of shares via SMS on March 29, according to the company.

IPO activity

Al Ansari’s IPO is the latest in the UAE as the country’s stock markets are bracing for yet another year of record listings.

Presight AI Holding, a data analytics firm owned by Abu Dhabi’s G42 Group, raised Dhs1.7bn in its IPO, which attracted bids worth Dhs94.9bn from investors amid a boom in regional share offerings.

Trading of the company’s shares is scheduled to commence on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on March 27 under the ticker symbol ‘PRESIGHT’.

Read: Presight AI’s $496m IPO attracts $25.8bn in orders