Pure Health soars 77% as it starts trading on Abu Dhabi bourse after $986m IPO

Pure Health, the UAE’s largest healthcare group, soared on its debut on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Wednesday, after an initial public offering that raised Dh3.62 billion ($986 million).

Shares in the company, whose offering registered “significant demand” from investors in the UAE and the region, opened at Dh5.50 and surged as high as 77 per cent to Dh5.77 in early trading, before settling at Dh5.74 at the close.

Pure Health priced its listing at Dh3.26 a share, with an offering size of 1.11 billion ordinary shares, or 10 per cent of its total issued share capital. Pure Health’s founders will retain a 90 per cent stake in the company.

The retail tranche was oversubscribed 483 times and the institutional offering attracted Dh186 billion, indicating an oversubscription level of 54 times.

Pure Health’s IPO is the sixth on the ADX in 2023 and brings the total value of listings on the exchange this year to $5.57 billion.

“We will continue to transform health care, in line with the vision of Abu Dhabi’s leadership, together delivering accessible, world-class healthcare backed by the latest in AI [artificial intelligence] technology and supported by continued public and private sector collaboration,” Farhan Malik, co-founder and managing director of Pure Health, said in a statement.

“Pure Health is now becoming into a healthcare equity platform where our focus will be on international expansion.

“This listing will further support our equity growth story by enabling us in taking the organisation from Abu Dhabi to the world.”

Pure Health’s debut on the ADX comes a day after it appointed Shaista Asif, the company’s co-founder and group chief operating officer, as its new group chief executive.

Ms Asif was ranked ninth by Forbes Middle East on its list of the 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen in 2023 and first in health care.

Mr Malik’s role has been expanded and he will now lead efforts to develop Pure Health’s business globally, “formulating effective strategies and ensuring the delivery of service excellence to clients, thereby adding value to shareholders”, the company said.

Pure Health’s IPO comes in the middle of a listings boom in the Arabian Gulf, driven by government incentives, foreign investor interest and diversification efforts.