Dubai port operator eyes $2 billion IPO
DUBAI (Reuters) - DP World, the world's third-largest container port operator, may this year sell $2 billion of shares in an initial public offering and list the stock in Dubai, Middle East Economic Digest reported.
The Dubai government-owned company may list the shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, unidentified analysts close to the port operator said, according to the London-based weekly magazine.
DP World, which bought Britain-based P&0 port and ship operator for $6.85 billion in 2006, last year hired Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch to advise on a possible IPO, MEED said.
A DP World spokeswoman said the company had several financing options available to it, including an IPO or bond sale. "No decision has been made yet," she told Reuters on Sunday.
In April, DP World asked Deutsche Bank and Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital to review its financing options, including a possible stock market listing or a refinancing, MEED said.
In January last year DP World's parent, the Ports Customs and Free Zone Corp (PCFC) sold $3.5 billion of two-year Islamic bonds, which investors can convert into shares in any IPO by one of its subsidiaries.
A DP World listing "is not an option now", Dubai World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told Reuters last month. Dubai World is the government body that owns PCFC, property developer Nakheel and investment agency Istithmar.
