Parkin boosts retail component in share offering amid strong investor demand

Parkin, the company set up to oversee parking operations in Dubai, increased the number of shares offered to retail investors in its initial public offering following strong investor demand for the first public float in the UAE this year.

The retail tranche of the public offering was increased to 89.96 million shares, up from 74.97 million shares, the company said.

This retail component ended up comprising 12 per cent of the total shares offered in the

IPO, up from 10 per cent previously, due to “an exceptional level of oversubscription and demand from retail investors”, Parkin said.

The overall size of the public float remained unchanged at 749.7 million shares, representing 24.99 per cent of Parkin’s total issued share capital.

To accommodate the boost in retail offering, the qualified investor tranche was reduced to 659.73 million shares, representing 88 per cent of the total shares offered, compared with the previously announced 90 per cent, the company said.

The subscription period for qualified investors closed yesterday, a day after it ended for retail investors. The company’s shares are expected to begin trading on the Dubai Financial Market on March 21, under the symbol “PARKIN”.

Parkin is looking to raise as much as Dh1.57 billion through its listing on the DFM, as part of the emirate’s push to broaden its capital markets.

The price range for the offering has been set between Dh2 and Dh2.10 a share, implying a market capitalisation at listing of between Dh6 billion and Dh6.30 billion, the company said earlier this month.

Parkin’s IPO comes after Dubai announced plans in

November 2021 to list 10 stateowned companies, aiming to expand the size of its financial market to Dh3 trillion.

It also established a Dh2 billion market-maker fund to encourage listings from private companies in sectors such as energy, logistics and retail.

Five state-owned enterprises have been listed on the DFM since 2022.

Parkin is the largest provider of paid parking spaces and services in Dubai, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the emirate’s on and off-street paid parking market.

It operated about 175,000 on and off-street parking spaces across 85 locations, and close to 18,000 spaces across seven developer-owned parking lots at the end of last year.

The company, which issues permits to drivers for subscription to public parking and reserving spaces, is also responsible for establishing, designing and managing private parking spaces, and investing in related business.

Parkin’s revenue for the 2023 financial year climbed 13.5 per cent annually to Dh779.4 million. Profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose by 23 per cent during the period to Dh414.4 million.

Emirates NBD Capital, Goldman Sachs International and HSBC were appointed as joint global co-ordinators and joint bookrunners for the IPO while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, EFG-Hermes UAE and First Abu Dhabi Bank were appointed as joint bookrunners.

Emirates NBD was also the lead receiving bank.

Parkin is looking to raise as much as Dh1.57 billion through its listing on the Dubai Financial Market