Alec Holding saw its books covered soon after its subscription period opened yesterday, Bloomberg reports. The firm is guiding on a price range of AED 1.35-1.40 per share for its DFM float, setting it up to raise up to AED 1.4 bn (or USD 381 mn) in proceeds, it said in a statement (pdf). This implies a market cap of AED 7 bn at listing, and is slightly lower than expectations of a USD 500 mn offering.

REFRESHER- Alec is taking a 20% stake public on the DFM through a Reg S-compliant secondary sale of 1 bn shares, through which the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) — the firm’s sole owner and selling shareholder — will net all the proceeds. Some 94% of the shares on offer will be limited to institutional investors, with 5% open to retail buyers, and 1% for ICD employees.

Subscriptions will run until Tuesday, 30 September, with the final pricing set to be announced on Wednesday, 1 October. Final allocations will take place on Tuesday, 7 October, with Alec’s shares due to start trading the following Wednesday, 15 October, under the ticker ALEC.

This is Dubai’s first corporate IPO of the year, and only the third in the Emirates overall after Dubai Holding floated a 15% stake in its residential REIT back in May, raising AED 2.1 bn, and Alpha Data listed its shares on the ADX in March. Alec would also be the seventh company to list under Dubai’s privatization program, following in the footsteps of Parkin, Dewa, Dubai Taxi, Salik, Tecom, and Empower .

A developer-heavy pipeline: Both of Dubai’s offerings this year are tied to the real estate sector — a sign of the far-reaching impacts of the emirate’s property market boom. Dubai developer Binghatti, Arabian Construction, classifieds platform Dubizzle, and a Dubai Investments unit are also preparing floats. Dubai Holding plans to IPO two of its property portfolio units, and Sharjah-born developer Arada is also eyeing an IPO in three years’ time.

ADVISORS- Our friends at EFG Hermes are acting as joint bookrunners on the transaction alongside Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. They’re joined by Emirates NBD Capital and JP Morgan as joint global coordinators and bookrunners, while Moelis is acting as independent financial adviser. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and Ibrahim & Patterns are providing counsel. Emirates NBD is the lead receiving bank, alongside ADCB, ADIB, Al Maryah Community Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq, and Wio Bank.

ALSO IN THE IPO PIPELINE-

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