DUBAI, May 28 (Reuters) - Dubai-based party hotel
operator FIVE Holdings Ltd is working with banks on a planned
initial public offering next year, people with knowledge of the
matter said, joining a growing number of companies in the
emirate that are listing on the stock exchange.
FIVE, which operates luxury hotels in Dubai, Ibiza and
Switzerland, is working with Citi and Deutsche Bank on the deal,
said the people, who declined to be identified as the matter was
not public.
FIVE Holdings, Citi and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
FIVE owns one of Dubai's biggest party hotels, where guests
can park their supercars inside a nightclub for 10,000 dirhams
($2,723). It also offers an even more exclusive party in the sky
for the super-rich on its own 16-passenger private jet for
$14,000 an hour.
Chairman Kabir Mulchandani said in April that the company,
which estimates its own worth at $2.5 billion to $3 billion,
planned to list in Dubai and was in talks with advisers about a
potential dual listing, without elaborating on specific
locations.
The Gulf's IPO market has been buoyant this year and
included supermarket chain franchisee Spinneys,
which priced its IPO at the top of its indicative price range
last month. UAE-based hypermarket and mall operator Lulu is also
expected to go public later this year, Reuters previously
reported.
Any deal would test investor appetite for the small but
growing entertainment sector in Dubai that is geared towards
expats and tourists, against the backdrop of the socially
conservative Gulf region which is opening up to new industries
to diversify away from oil.
Dubai, the biggest tourism and trade hub in the Middle East,
was quick to reopen after the pandemic. That, along with an
influx of Russians and business professionals as well as relaxed
social and visa rules, helped fuel an economic boom that has
also seen property prices and rents balloon.
FIVE could also attract money flowing into companies with
environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
Last year, the company scored a top ESG rating for a green
bond that helped purchase Spanish group Pacha, in a deal worth
303 million euros ($321.9 million).
($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)