Peninsula Poised to Drop London IPO Plan in Favor of #UAE Listing - Bloomberg

Peninsula Poised to Drop London IPO Plan in Favor of UAE Listing - Bloomberg

Peninsula Real Estate is poised to abandon plans for a London listing in favor of an offering in Abu Dhabi, people familiar with the matter said, highlighting the growing allure of capital markets in the oil-rich Arab Gulf.

The company has picked Emirates NBD PJSC, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley to help manage the share sale in the United Arab Emirates capital, said the people, who declined to be identified since the information is private.

Peninsula and Emirates NBD declined to comment. Representatives for First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC and Morgan Stanley weren’t immediately available for comment.

Peninsula was initially considering listing a $1 billion real estate investment trust in London, in a deal that would have made it the first company with significant UAE assets to do since 2019. The firm has been working with investment bank Evercore Inc. and law firm Clifford Chance.

An Abu Dhabi listing for Peninsula would be the latest share sale in a region that’s sidestepped the worst of the market volatility seen around the world. High oil prices and abundant liquidity have helped bolster capital markets activity in the Gulf, which has seen a string of listings, including the year’s second biggest.

At the same time, property prices in both the residential and office space markets have soared across the Middle East as regional economies bounce back from the pandemic. Peninsula is courting cash-rich Gulf investors from family offices to sovereign wealth funds who are expected to pour funds into the regional real estate sector.