Healthcare and education start-up Amanat Holdings collected more than AED13.6bn ($3.7bn) during the subscription period of its initial public offering (IPO), with the majority of investment coming from UAE investors.

The AED1.4bn IPO was about 10-times oversubscribed with more than 3,650 individual investors applying for shares in the company.

Investment from UAE nationals represented 67 per cent of the total value of money raised during the 16-day subscription period, reflecting the strong investment appetite for IPOs in the country this year.

Investment for Saudi Arabia accounted for 21 per cent of the total value, while the remainder came from other Gulf and international investors, Majd Adnan Maaitah, managing director, securities and fund administration services department, told a media briefing on 9 November.

The interest from Saudi investors came in spite of National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) $6bn IPO entering its subscription at a similar time, said Maaitah.

“We had a challenge with Amanat,” he said, adding, “The market was not as comfortable as when we were doing the Emaar [Malls] IPO. And yet we ended up with quality investors.”

Dubai-based property developer Emaar launched its IPO in August.

Institutional investors accounted for 27 per cent of the total raised for Amanat, with 73 per cent coming from individual investors.

Amanat’s CEO, Khaldoun Haj Hasan, said, “We see a lot of long-term strategic investors in Amanat.”

Excess funds are expected to be returned to investors on 11 November and the company is scheduled to list on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) at the end of the month, subject to regulatory approvals.

Amanat was founded by 37 local and international investors, with a mandate to use its total capital of AED2.5bn to set up, acquire and incorporate companies in the healthcare and education sectors, predominantly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Hasan said the company would potentially make its first acquisition in the first quarter of 2015.

He said plans to make initial investments of AED1.75bn in the coming year remain on track.

Retail firm Marka was the last under-formation company to raise an IPO on the DFM. It was the first IPO issuer to list on the DFM since 2009. Trading of Marka’s shares on the DFM began in September.