Abu Dhabi's Alef Education Garners $515 Million from IPO

Alef Education Holding plc, an award-winning AI-powered learning solutions provider based in Abu Dhabi, has wrapped up its initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Market of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), raising AED 1.89 billion ($514.56 million).^[1]  

Alef is now considered the first education technology company to be listed in the UAE.

The IPO’s final offer price was AED 1. 35 ($0. 37) per share. This IPO also recorded the highest turnout of local, regional, and international investors with a gross demand of AED 74. 22 billion ($20 billion) and was oversubscribed 39 times.

Alef Education also revealed that it intends to pay a minimum of $36.7 million in annual dividends for 2024 and 2025 with a minimum dividend yield of 7.1% of the total price as stated on the final offer.

The IPO comprised 1. 4 billion shares, which is 20% of the number of shares that have been floated in the market. After the IPO, Tech Nova Investment—Sole Proprietorship LLC and Kryptonite Investments LLC, the selling shareholders, will continue to own 68% and 12% stakes, respectively.

Those who invested in the first tranche will receive an SMS confirmation of their allocations on June 11th, 2024, while refunds will begin on the same date.

Alef is expected to start trading on the ADX under the ticker “AlefEdT” and ISIN “AEE01388A243” on or around June 12th, 2024, subject to market conditions and regulatory requirements.

In May, Alef disclosed its plan to offer 20% of its share capital in an IPO.

Alef Education, a private institutional investment group with indirect ownership of Abu Dhabi Capital Group, specializes in AI-powered and individualized learning solutions for students in kindergarten through grade 12 at various educational institutions in the UAE and abroad, including markets like Indonesia and the US.

Alef Education has approximately 1.1 million registered students, 50,000 teachers, and 7,000 schools as of 2023.

First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC and EFG Hermes UAE Limited, both serving as joint lead managers and joint book-runners.

The idea for Alef Education was born in 2016 as a technology-enabled education concept developed to meet the needs of the public school system in the UAE. Alef has offices in the US, Indonesia, and Jordan.

In February, Alef Education partnered with MetaMetrics, the developer behind the Lexile Framework for Reading, to introduce an Arabic reading scale across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.