Iran’s Dana Insurance will list a 5 per cent stake on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) on 17 August, making it Iran’s first initial public offering in 2010.  

The stake is equivalent to 5,273,750 million shares.

At 61 per cent, the government has a controlling stake in Dana. The Social Security Organisation is the second-largest shareholder, with more than 23 percent, while the remaining 16 per cent owned by Iranian employees’ pension and investment funds.

Dana Insurance was scheduled to launch at the end of July according to Iran’s markets regulator, the Securities Exchange Organisation (SEO).

Several planned listings have been delayed this year as market appetite has been dampened by escalating political tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

In May, the government announced a delay in the public offerings of two Iranian automobile companies, Iran Khodro and Saipa, citing uncertainty over their international commitments. No new listing date has been announced.

In April 2010, the government-owned Iranian Privatisation Organisation (IPO) published a list of 90 companies shortlisted for privatisation by 2014, with around 50 companies on the list considered high-priority, including national carrier Iran Air. The IPO believes that it can raise more than $12bn through these privatisations.