Subscription for shares in the initial public offering of Meraas Holding’s theme park division has opened on the Dubai Financial Market.
The sale of up to 40 per cent of Dubai Parks and Resorts, expected to reap at least Dh2.5 billion, will be used to fund the development, including a Legoland, a Hollywood amusement resort and the first Bollywood movie theme park.
The over 2.5 billion shares on offer will be priced at Dh1 per share and a Dh0.01 administration fee for every share sold will be levied, the company said.
“The Middle East is forecast to be the fastest growing region for inbound tourism in the world, with visitor numbers nearly trebling to 149 million by 2030,” said Raed Al Nuaimi, the park’s chief executive.
“Dubai is ideally located to benefit from the growing level of tourism and is already the fifth most visited city in the world with 11.95 million visitors as of July 2014.”
The company’s plan to sell shares to the public comes as Dubai’s main stock index more than doubled in the past year-and-a-half amid a recovery of the country’s economy.
Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Emirates NBD are the banks chosen to manage the IPO.
The Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes and Dubai-based Shuaa Capital are also helping with the sale.
Groundwork on Meraas Holding’s three parks started in February and will eventually form part of a Dh10 billion complex of five linked theme parks.
Plans for the theme parks, to be built close to the Dubai 2020 Expo site and the city’s new Al Maktoum airport, were announced by Meraas in 2012 as part of a government push to double annual visitor numbers to 20 million by 2020.
Meraas said that the first phase of development of the Dubai Parks and Resorts project would also include a grand entrance square of shops, restaurants and entertainments dubbed “Riverpark” along with Lapita, a family hotel.
The Legoland theme park, intended to cater for children aged two to 12, is on track to be completed by 2016.
Under a management contract for the theme park, Merlin Entertainments will receive management fees of US$3 million to $4m a year from 2016 after the park’s opening.
Between last year and 2015, Merlin was expected to receive development fees of $2.5m annually.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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