Dubai plans IPO for business park operator TECOM

The listing of TECOM Group on the stock exchange is part of plans to increase the size of the Dubai Financial Market to $816.84 billion.

CAIRO - Dubai is planning an initial public offering of business park operator TECOM Group on the local stock exchange, the emirate's Media Office reported on Tuesday.

The listing is part of plans to increase the size of the Dubai Financial Market to 3 trillion dirhams ($816.84 billion).

Formerly known as TECOM Investments, TECOM Group, which is a part of Dubai Holding, says it has a portfolio of 10 business parks where around 6,500 businesses employ a total workforce of 95,000.

The Dubai government last month announced plans to list 10 state-backed companies on its stock market as part of plans to boost activity on the local bourse. It also said it plans to set up a 2 billion dirham market maker fund to encourage more private companies to list.

A spate of de-listings and an absence of big initial public offerings have put Dubai's stock market under pressure, raising questions over the future of one of the Gulf's major exchanges, launched two decades ago.