Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has taken a significant step towards privatisation, selecting Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Emirates NBD Capital to handle the initial public offering (IPO) of the city’s taxi business, according to a report by Bloomberg.
This marks the emirate’s first privatisation move of the year.
Dubai to list taxi and parking units
In addition to the taxi business IPO, the RTA has also appointed Emirates NBD, HSBC Holdings Plc, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to work on the listing of its parking division.
Both offerings are part of the government’s broader plan to monetise its assets and increase trading volumes in the city’s stock market, the report said.
According to Bloomberg, the government intends to go ahead with the taxi business IPO later this year, while the parking unit’s listing is scheduled for the following year.
The selection of the financial institutions indicates the seriousness of the government’s commitment to the privatisation process.
While the specific details of the IPOs have not been disclosed publicly, sources revealed that more banks may be brought into the fold at a later stage to further support the listings.
Salik IPO success
This development comes after the successful IPO of Salik Co., the city’s road-toll operator, in 2022.
The government raised an impressive $1 billion from the IPO, generating a massive $50 billion in orders.
Salik shares have since outperformed other state listings from last year, surging about 57 percent from their offer price.
In 2022, the emirate listed four state-owned assets, raising a total of about $8 billion, as per Bloomberg data.
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