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Healthcare provider Burjeel Holdings aims to strengthen its balancesheet and expand operations with the proceeds from its initial public offering in Abu Dhabi.

“What we wanted to do with this IPO is to make the balance sheet stronger and make sure that our scale of plans are intact,” Chairman Shamsheer Vayalil told Bloomberg TV on Thursday.

Burjeel scaled down its IPO to a local affair after a firm controlled by Abu Dhabi’s royal family bought a 15% stake in the healthcare provider. The company is offering a 11% stake in the IPO and begins the book-building process on Friday.  

A combination of strong demand at home and the “very small” offering made it a better option to keep it a local affair, Vayalil said. Burjeel’s debt position has dropped “significantly” after the deal with International Holdings Co., he said.

• Burjeel to Begin Scaled-Down IPO Without International Investors

Founded by Vayalil and owned by VPS Healthcare, Burjeel is set to be the first privately-owned firm to go public in the UAE this year. The company plans to list shares in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 10.

The Middle East has been one of the most active IPO markets in 2022, a year otherwise marked by stock selloffs and recession fears. Elevated oil prices and investor inflows drove deals in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, and the deals pipeline still remains busy.

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