DIP Holding, the owner of Dubai Investments Park, has announced its intention to float on the Dubai Financial Market, in what would be the first UAE initial public offering of the year.
The announcement was made on 19 October 2026. The selling shareholder is Dubai Investments, the DFM listed conglomerate, which is offering 20 per cent of DIP Holding's issued share capital, or 1,735,243,300 ordinary shares. The shares are existing ones, so DIP Holding itself receives none of the proceeds, and Dubai Investments retains 80 per cent.
The offer is split across four tranches: 92 per cent to professional investors, or 1,596,423,836 shares; 5 per cent to individual subscribers holding a valid national investor number, or 86,762,165 shares; 2 per cent to eligible shareholders of Dubai Investments, or 34,704,866 shares, with a record date of 28 October; and 1 per cent to eligible group employees, or 17,352,433 shares. The professional tranche must stay at or above 60 per cent.
Subscription runs from 27 October to 3 November, with final pricing due on 4 November and listing expected on or around 11 November. All of those dates fall in 2026. The price will be set in dirhams by book building on professional tranche orders. No valuation or expected proceeds have been disclosed.
Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital and HSBC Bank Middle East are joint global coordinators. ADCB, Arqaam Capital, Dubai Islamic Bank and EFG Hermes are joint bookrunners, and Emirates NBD is lead receiving bank. The internal Shariah supervisory committees of Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank have confirmed the offering as Shariah compliant.
Dubai Investments Park covers 23 million square metres between Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport. Established in 1997, it houses around 1,000 tenants, some 5,700 subleases and more than 150,000 residents across warehousing, hotels, retail, schools and medical centres, with ground lease occupancy of 99.9 per cent at the end of June.
Revenue was 960 million dirhams in 2025, against 892 million in 2024. First half revenue this year was 492 million dirhams, up 7 per cent on a like for like basis, with adjusted EBITDA of 355 million, a 72 per cent margin and cash conversion of 97 per cent. The company intends annualised dividends of 700 million dirhams for 2026, rising to 750 million by 2028, paid semi annually.
Khalid Jassim Bin Kalban, Chairman of DIP Holding, described the listing as a natural next step in a journey that began more than 25 years ago. Omar AlMesmar, Chief Executive Officer, said the offering marks an important milestone and that the company's priorities as a listed business remain disciplined execution, operational excellence and predictable, sustainable performance.
The float ends a thin stretch for Gulf equity issuance. Middle East IPOs raised 7.1 billion dollars across 61 listings in 2025, down from 13 billion the year before, and UAE issuers accounted for just 1.1 billion across three deals. Lower oil prices, regional conflict and weak aftermarket performance have all been cited as causes.
What Dubai Investments is monetising is an annuity. A land bank at 99.9 per cent occupancy with a 72 per cent EBITDA margin is about as close to a bond as an equity story gets, and the dividend schedule is pitched accordingly. Selling 20 per cent rather than the up to 25 per cent floated earlier suggests a seller optimising for aftermarket performance rather than proceeds, a reasonable read of a market that has punished the opposite choice.
