Emaar’s Egyptian unit IPO share price range expected on Thursday

Price range for IPO of property developer Emaar's Egyptian unit to come in below maximum limit of 4.49 Egyptian pounds a share.

Emaar Misr’s shares may now be priced at less than 4.49 pounds each. Stephen Lock / The National

The share price range for the upcoming IPO of Emaar Properties' Egyptian subsidiary on the Cairo stock market will be announced tomorrow, a bank source close to the deal told The National.

Emaar Misr shares in the initial public offering will each be priced at a maximum of 4.49 Egyptian pounds (Dh2.15), as approved by the bourse regulator.

The price range that will be included in the offer’s prospectus will be announced tomorrow and would likely come in below the 4.49 Egyptian pounds upper limit to give “a discount to fair value to encourage investors”, the source said. ​

At the maximum price, the IPO would raise as much as US$353 million.

Media reports on Monday had said that the maximum IPO price had been lowered to 4.49 Egyptian pounds a share from 4.70 Egyptian pounds reducing the overall amount of money expected to be raised by the company.

However, the source said that the company had studied pricing the shares as high as 4.70 pounds each pending regulatory approval but that no maximum price had been determined until now.

An investor roadshow will kick off tomorrow, he said, with Emaar Misr management visiting South Africa, the UAE, the UK and the US to drum up interest.

Emaar Properties in Dubai did not respond on Monday to a request for comment on the pricing of the shares.

The Dubai-based developer announced plans two weeks ago to list Emaar Misr through the sale of 600 million shares, or 12.9 per cent of its capital.

It will use the proceeds to increase its land bank and fund further developments within the country.

The share offering is set to be Egypt’s largest IPO since that of the Talaat Moustafa Group in 2007.

It comes nine months after Emaar floated Emaar Malls Group, its retail unit, in an offering that raised $1.6 billion in Dubai.

The Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm said the IPO would offer 90 million shares on the Egyptian Exchange between June 16 and 25, and a private placement of 510 million shares to institutions and wealthy investors.

The final share price will be determined through a book building process by June 18.

Emaar Misr’s annual revenue surged 119 per cent to 2.6 billion pounds last year. Shares of Emaar Properties in Dubai gained 1.8 per cent yesterday to Dh7.90.

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