Dubai Holding to list 12.5% stake in residential REIT in Dubai’s first IPO of 2025

Dubai Holding, the investment conglomerate owned by the emirate’s ruler, announced Monday plans to float a 12.5% stake in Dubai Residential REIT, a real estate investment trust focused on residential leasing, marking Dubai’s first initial public offering of the year.

The offering will consist of 1.63 billion units, and the REIT currently manages approximately 35,700 residential units across a diverse portfolio, including prominent communities such as City Walk and Bluewaters.

Dubai’s real estate market has experienced a strong post-pandemic recovery, buoyed by foreign investor inflows, residency reforms, and growing demand for luxury properties among high-net-worth expatriates. The emirate has also ramped up efforts to deepen capital markets, including consolidating major state-backed developers and listing more government entities on the stock exchange.

Dubai Residential REIT is poised to become the largest listed REIT in the GCC, with a gross asset value of AED 21.63 billion ($5.89 billion), according to Dubai Holding.

This would mark Dubai’s first IPO since Talabat’s listing in December and the second public offering in the UAE this year, following Alpha Data.

The subscription window is expected to run from May 13 to May 20, with trading on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) anticipated to begin around May 28.

All proceeds from the offering will go to DHAM Investments, the selling unitholder and a subsidiary of Dubai Holding.

Citi, Emirates NBD, and Morgan Stanley have been appointed as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the IPO.