Alef Education valued at $2.5bn as IPO price range set

Norma Mortenson/Pexels

• First edtech firm on a UAE exchange
• 1.4bn shares on offer
• Subscription period ends June 5

Alef Education, the first education technology company to list on a UAE stock exchange, has set its initial public offering (IPO) price range between AED1.30 and AED1.35 ($0.35-0.37) a share.

Accordingly, the market capitalisation on listing will be between AED9.1 billion ($2.5 billion) and AED9.45 billion on listing. 

The IPO subscription period starts on May 28 and is expected to close on June 4 for individual investors and June 5 for professional investors.

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However, the selling shareholders will not receive proceeds from the IPO.

Alef shares are expected to start trading on June 12 on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

The final offer price will be determined after the book-building process on June 6. 

The selling shareholders, Tech Nova Investment, Sole Proprietorship and Kryptonite Investments, are offloading 1.4 billion shares, with a total offering size between AED1.82 billion and AED1.89 billion. 

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As of 2023, the company’s platforms, including its international ventures, served more than one million registered students, 50,000 teachers, and 7,000 schools.

Alef Education was founded in the UAE in 2016. It entered the US market in 2018, followed by Indonesia in 2021 and Morocco in 2022. It entered the Qatar market last year through a reseller agreement.

The company’s revenues reached AED750 million in 2023, a 12 percent increase from AED667 million in 2021. It is expected to pay a minimum dividend payout ratio of 90 percent, or AED135 million, of the net profit for 2024 and 2025 each year.