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Alef Education to be first edtech with UAE bourse listing

By Pramod Kumar
alef edtech Alef Education/X
Alef Education's IPO price will be determined on June 6, with the book-building period running from May 28 to June 5

Alef Education plans to offer a 20 percent stake on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange, becoming the first edtech – education technology – company to list in the UAE.

The selling shareholders, Tech Nova Investment, Sole Proprietorship and Kryptonite Investments, will offload 1.4 billion shares.

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The IPO price will be determined on June 6, with the book-building period running from May 28 to June 5, the company said.

The shares are expected to start trading on June 12.

The global edtech market has experienced strong growth over the past couple of years, supported by increased government spending and the incrteasing use of digital and AI tools, said Abdulhamid Mohammed Saeed Alahmadi, chairman of Alef Education.

Geoffrey Alphonso, Alef Education’s CEO, said the company provides digital education resources to all public schools and serves 40 to 50 percent of the private school market.

“The increased global education spending dovetails with our well-defined growth strategy,” he said.

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 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 ($204.2 million) in 2023, a 12.4 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.

First Abu Dhabi Bank is listing adviser and joint lead manager, and joint bookrunner along with EFG Hermes UAE. 

* A previous version of this article inaccurately stated that selling shareholders would not receive proceeds from the IPO.

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