Dubai Parks and Resorts has announced details for a planned Dh1.68 billion rights issue, which it plans to use to finance a second phase of its vast Florida-style theme park complex in Dubai.
The Dubai-listed operator, which owns three linked Legoland, Motiongate and Bollywood Parks theme parks in Jebel Ali, said it plans to issue 1.68 billion new shares at Dh1 each next month.
In a bourse filing yesterday, the theme park company, which was spun off from Meraas, the private property company owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2014, said that during the offer period between May 12 and May 25 shareholders would have the option to subscribe to one new share for every 3.767 shares they currently hold.
Shareholders who do not wish to take part would be able to sell their rights on the Dubai Financial Market between May 4 and May 18.
According to the company, the majority shareholder, Meraas, has reached an agreement with four investors including Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Holding, to acquire a portion of Meraas’s own shares and 80 per cent of the public shares if they are not subscribed.
Nonetheless, following the rights issue, Meraas, which owns 60 per cent of the company, will still be the majority shareholder in Dubai Parks.
The cash raising will boost the number of shares by about 26.5 per cent to nearly 8 million.
Arqaam Capital and Emirates Financial Services have been appointed joint bookrunners and will manage the cash raising. Emirates NBD will act as the receiving bank.
Dubai Parks reported last month that it was looking to raise a total of Dh2.67bn to build the new Six Flags theme park after it secured Dh993 million debt financing from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank.
The company said that it expected the new park to open by the end of 2019 and to have 27 rides and attractions.
The news came as Dubai Parks and Resorts reported a Dh38m loss for the first three months of this year, up from Dh13m in the same period the previous year.
The company said that 85 per cent of the overall infrastructure of the Legoland, Motiongate and Bollywood parks development, which is due to open in October this year, had been completed, meaning that the company’s total assets had increased to Dh9.7bn.
“The rights issue gives our existing shareholders and new shareholders the opportunity to share in Dubai Parks and Resorts’ growth strategy,” said Raed Al Nuaimi, Dubai Parks’ chief executive. “Six Flags Dubai will enable Dubai Parks and Resorts to offer an element of thrill, enabling us to target new market segments, tastes, and age groups.”
Two years ago, Meraas struck a deal with Texas-based Six Flags Entertainment to build a theme park at its 25 million square feet Jebel Ali complex as part of ambitious plans that are a key part of Dubai’s target of attracting 20 million tourists by 2020.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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