Dubai Financial Market (DFM) today announced the listing of Amanat Holdings PJSC (Amanat), as trading began in the companys shares under the trading symbol AMANAT, which appears on DFM screens, trading system and publications within the Services sector.

The successful listing of Amanat further strengthens the prominent position of DFM as the most favoured listing venue for leading local and regional companies, and lifts its total number of listed companies to 57.

Amanat is the first company in the healthcare and education services sectors to list on DFM. Investor surveys conducted by DFM showed that healthcare and education are amongst the three most favoured sectors investors want to see represented in the market through IPOs.

His Excellency Essa Kazim, Chairman of Dubai Financial Market, Faisal Bin Juma Belhoul, Chairman of the Board of Amanat, and senior representatives from both sides attended the bell-ringing ceremony on the DFM trading floor.

H.E. Essa Kazim said: We are delighted to welcome the listing of Amanat on DFM, which offers domestic and international investors efficient access to the GCCs fast-growth healthcare and education sectors for the first time. For instance, the education sector in Dubai has registered an annual growth rate of 7.5% on average between 2012 and 2014, and is poised to maintain this momentum based on the high population growth. Dubais population is expected to grow 7.2% annually to 3.6 million by 2020, from 2.2 million in 2013, and this will be positively mirrored in the demand for education and healthcare services.

With the listing of Amanat, DFM assumes a unique position as a gateway for investors wanting to participate in the dynamic Gulf healthcare and education sectors. Moreover, a listing from these two sectors further boosts DFMs efforts to realise its strategic objective of achieving the fullest representation of Dubais economy by attracting companies from strategically important sectors, including retail, tourism, healthcare and education. A listing will also assist these companies in achieving their growth strategy with the support of the capital markets. H.E. Essa Kazim added.

Healthcare spending in the GCC is expected to increase by more than 10 percent annually over the next three years to reach USD86 billion. Similarly, enrolment in private K-12 education in the Gulf is forecast to double by 2020 to 10 million students, while the number of people going through higher education is anticipated to grow annually by more than 14 percent to reach almost 4 million by the end of the decade.

Faisal Bin Juma Belhoul said: Today represents both a major milestone in the journey of Amanat and a pivotal moment in the development of the healthcare and education sectors in the GCC. Amanat will enable many investors to participate in these two vibrant sectors for the first time, while our partnerships with governments, companies and entrepreneurs will help to positively transform healthcare and education services for generations to come.

Amanat was founded by a group of 37 prominent local and international investors with a mandate to utilise its total capital of AED 2.5 billion to establish, acquire and incorporate companies working in the healthcare and education sectors, and develop, manage and operate these companies within the GCC. The companys AED 1.375 billion IPO was nearly 10 times oversubscribed, with over 3,650 individual investors applying for shares in the regions largest integrated healthcare and education company.

Belhoul added: On behalf of the companys board and leadership team, I thank the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority and the Dubai Financial Market for their invaluable support which helped to make the Amanat IPO such a success.

The companys value creation model is based on three main platforms. First, Amanat will transform established growth companies through the implementation of value creation initiatives and funding support (approximately 70 per cent of deployed capital). Second, it will develop and fund infrastructure projects related primarily to the expansion needs of these companies (approximately 25 per cent of deployed capital). Third, it will create new companies built on proven business models, bringing specialist know-how into the region through partnerships with leading international providers to address supply or quality gaps (approximately 5 per cent of deployed capital). Amanat plans to deploy the majority of capital within the next 12 months to limit idle capital.