DP World is the first company to have its shares traded solely on the DIFX and brings the number of equity listings to 13. Its share price rose 4.6 per cent on its first day of trading, climbing from its listing price of $1.30 to close at $1.36.
Per Larsson, chief executive officer (CEO) of DIFX and its parent company Borse Dubai, says there are a number of companies waiting to list on the exchange, including primary and secondary issues of shares, and debt.
“We have a healthy pipeline of companies looking to list,” says Larsson. “These include local, regional and international companies. Most of our primary, exclusive listings will come from the region.”
In the first five minutes of trading on the DIFX, 20.4 million DP World shares changed hands - an unusually high figure for an exchange which has scant trading activity.
The share price was widely expected to rise as the initial public offering (IPO) was more than 15 times oversubscribed. “There is pent-up demand,” says Henry Azzam, chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank.
However, the company insists that the listing will make no difference to its operations. “For our business, nothing will change,” says Mohammed Sharaf, chief executive officer.
The proceeds of the $4.96bn IPO, which was the largest ever in the region, were split between DP World’s parent company Port & Free Zone World and repaying the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation’s $3.5bn sukuk.