Middle East alternative asset manager Investcorp Capital sets IPO price range

Middle East’s alternative asset manager Investcorp Capital plc set the price range on Thursday for its initial public offering (IPO), potentially raising up to $402.7 million with an equity valuation of up to $1.37 billion, Reuters reported.

The price range was set at 1.90 dirhams ($0.5173) to 2.30 dirhams per share, said the company. It plans to offer 643 million ordinary shares and wants to list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Founded in 1982, making it one of the oldest Middle Eastern private equity houses, Investcorp is best known in the global space for listing luxury goods brands such as Gucci and Tiffany & Co, but has increasingly branched out into other sectors, too.

Investcorp said in the statement that IVC Strategic Investment, a special purpose vehicle, signed up as a cornerstone investor in the IPO with a commitment of roughly $250 million.

The vehicle was set up to act as an aggregator of orders from certain wealth management investors and a prominent Abu Dhabi-based investor, the company added.

Investcorp joins a growing number of companies looking to list in the region, where there were 23 new stock market listings in the first half of 2023, more than any other first-half total since 2008.

IPO activity in the Gulf is picking up after the pace slowed from an exceptional 2022. Saudi Arabia and the UAE led new listings that year, raising nearly $22 billion – more than half the total for the wider Europe, Middle East and Africa region, Dealogic data shows.

By contrast, private equity firm CVC has postponed plans for a European IPO this year, a person with direct knowledge of the plans said on Wednesday.

Europe’s biggest buyout group decided not to go ahead with the listing due to unfavourable market conditions, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)