Emaar considers listing in the London Stock Exchange
DUBAI — Emaar, the largest publicly listed real estate company in the Middle East, is planning to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) within the next 12 months, the company's chairman Mohammed Alabbar told the weekly magazine, Arabian Business. The listing could value the company at $40 billion.
In the interview, Alabbar said: "Emaar is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange and the estimated timeline is the next 12 months.” In response to the article an Emaar spokesperson said in an emailed statement:
"Emaar is one of the largest listed real estate companies in the world, and we have always been exploring the possibility of having a dual listing for the company in London, New York or any other stock exchanges that will maximise value for our shareholders."
The company is listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and has seen mixed fortunes in recent months. Its share price fell to a 28-month low in August when the details of a proposed land for share swap deal with Dubai Holding were not disclosed. The deal was finally abandoned and a $16 billion deal with Dubai Holding to develop land in Bawadi reached instead. Bawadi is a massive multi-billion dollar hotel and leisure destination under development in Dubailand.
Since that deal was struck, the Emaar's shares have recovered and yesterday the share price closed 1 per cent higher at Dh13.60.
The magazine cites sources close to the company speculating that the listing will be in the form of a "mother company', covering the entire Emaar empire — its DFM listing, its India listing and its 30 per cent stake in Saudi Arabia's Economic City.
With the DFM listing worth $21 billion, India $17 billion, any London listing is — on today's figures — likely to top the $40 billion mark, according to the magazines estimates. It says that any such listing would instantly propel Emaar into the FTSE100; making it one of the top five valued listed Arab companies anywhere in the world.
Borse Dubai, the holding company for the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) recently won a 28 per cent stake in the LSE after a complicated deal was agreed with the US exchange, NASDAQ.
