Daman Investments Plans to Float IPO by 2012
Staff ReportDUBAI — Asset manager Daman Investments PSC said on Tuesday that it aims to launch an initial public offering by 2012, as part of a new three-year corporate strategic plan to enhance its shareholding structure.
Daman’s new strategy has been developed in anticipation of new opportunities in the wake of the global credit crisis and has been designed to optimise the traction of the company’s efficient operations as the UAE economy returns to its positive stance which, according to conservative estimates, is expected to begin from late 2010, the company said in a statement.
“We have taken a hard look at the markets and are confident that our long term, positive view is justified,” said Group Managing Director Shehab Gargash. “We are proceeding to enhance our shareholder base through a studied and measured approach beginning earlier this year and culminating in an IPO by the end of 2012.”
This new strategy is aimed at broadening the shareholder base of Daman Investments through inviting investment by new qualified investors for the first time since the company’s establishment in 1998. The plan is being implemented in several stages over the coming three years through several private rounds culminating in the launch of Daman’s IPO.
The company has already attracted an early strategic investor with investment commitments of Dh100 million and is proceeding to obtain equity investments of an additional Dh200 million in the coming few weeks.
The complete three-year exercise is at all times subject to obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals.
“The accomplishment of a successful IPO to be listed on one of the markets in the UAE is the clear and focused objective of Daman’s medium-term strategy and all actions taken within the context of the strategic plan are geared towards the realisation of this objective,” Gargash said. Daman Investments is a private joint stock company.
From its early beginnings in 1998, the company has grown rapidly into a non-bank financial services company now widely recognised as an authority in its core markets, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Iraq.
“We are fully intent on bringing to fruition our ambition for Daman Investments to emerge as a leading Arab financial management firm in the wake of the global economic recession, growing within the region’s rapidly evolving financial services industry,” he added.
Gargash said the group has confidence that the United Arab Emirates and regional economies have the potential to bounce back from the slump and continue to progress steadily through to 2012 and beyond. Key economic indicators are already forecasting a favourable outlook with regard to the UAE economy, as real GDP growth is projected to climb consistently through to 2012 to reach 7.0 per cent, and consumer price inflation to ease from 14.4 per cent in 2008 to an estimated 5.5 per cent by 2013.