Nakheel lured by Emaar mall IPO success

|By TAP Staff| The success of Emaar’s malls IPO has prompted Nakheel to consider a flotation on the local stock market. Such a possibility was indicated by top Nakheel official Sanjay Manchanda, who spoke to reporters at the sidelines of Cityscape.

“The market is definitely very receptive to Dubai IPOs now. The success of Emaar will be an encouraging sign for us. Should we decide to list shares, the market will receive it well,” he said.

He added that the company is considering various options to raise funds including an IPO, Reuters reported.

“An IPO is a strategic decision which would be taken by the shareholders of the company.”

He said no banks or legal advisors have been appointed so far to look at a possible listing.

Nakheel was one of the worst-hit firms by Dubai’s property crash and subsequent debt crisis at many state-owned firms at the end of the last decade, with the company requiring a multi-billion-dollar debt restructuring.

However, as the local real estate market has rebounded from its nadir, where prices slumped more than 50 percent from their 2008 peak, Nakheel’s fortunes have improved and it said last month it had repaid its outstanding pre-crisis debt worth 7.9 billion dirhams ($2.15 billion) four years ahead of schedule.