Alec IPO orders hit $8bn on global investor demand

• Offering oversubscribed 21 times
• Final offer price at top of range
• Dubai builder’s market cap AED7 billion

Dubai contractor Alec Holdings said its initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed 21 times across all tranches, with demand reaching AED30 billion ($8.1 billion).

Demand stemmed primarily from investors across the UAE, countries in the wider Gulf Cooperation Council, and international markets, the company said in a statement.

The final offer price for 1 billion shares was set at the top of the range at AED1.40 apiece.

The sharia-compliant IPO was made available in three tranches: individuals (50 million shares), professional investors (940 million), and eligible employees (10 million).

The IPO size reached AED1.4 billion, implying a market capitalisation on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) of AED7 billion.

The company said the IPO was the “largest construction flotation ever, both in terms of valuation and size”, and the first IPO in the sector in more than 15 years.

The IPO also recorded one of the highest levels of non-UAE investor participation among the latest UAE government-related listings on the DFM, the statement said.

The final offer price implies a dividend yield of 7.1 percent for 2026.

The shares were sold by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the principal investment arm of the Dubai government and the sole shareholder of Alec.

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ICD will retain an 80 percent stake in Alec following the IPO if no changes are made to the offering size. It will receive all net proceeds and bear the transaction costs.

Alec had a project backlog of AED35.4 billion as of June 30, with 79 percent secured in the past two years.

Founded in 1999, Alec became a subsidiary of ICD in 2017. Its flagship projects include One Za’abeel, a mixed-use development in Dubai, Sea World Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest indoor marine theme park, and Dubai Hills Mall.