Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (Empower), the world's largest district cooling services provider, on its AED 2.6 billion initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market.
"Advising Empower on its listing follows our successful role as issuer counsel on the largest IPOs in the Middle East – the DEWA IPO earlier this year and the Saudi Aramco IPO in 2019," said White & Case partner Ali Shaikley, who led the Firm's deal team. "We have now advised on another landmark listing and played a part in the Dubai government's wider privatization programme. The Empower listing showcases our capabilities and underlines our position as the preeminent legal advisor for big ticket IPOs in the Middle East."
The Empower IPO has raised AED 2.6 billion (US$724 million) in proceeds and, on listing, it had a market capitalization of AED 13.3 billion (US$3.6 billion).
The bookbuilding and subscription process were completed during the second week of November 2022 by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority PJSC (DEWA) and Emirates Power Investment LLC, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai Holding, in their capacities as the selling shareholders, setting the final offer price of AED 1.33 per share at the upper end of the price range. Following two substantial upsizings, two billion ordinary shares were offered, representing 20 percent of Empower's issued share capital. This amount includes commitments from cornerstone and strategic investors of approximately AED 335 million.
The White & Case team that advised on the transaction was co-led by partner Ali Shaikley (Dubai) and local partner Ibrahim Soumrany (Dubai), and included partners Laura Sizemore (London) and Claire Matheson Kirton (Dubai), local partner William Watson (Dubai) and associates Roger Gaspard, Nour Ghaleb, Cassy Raby, Ghislaino Kamdo, Mikaela Nikolausson Toumia, Daniel Faber (all Dubai), Claudia Hasbun, Andrew Scott (both London) and Khawla Alatiyat (Abu Dhabi).
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