Dubai toll operator IPO covered within hours: Investors booked all 1.5 bn shares in Dubai’s state-owned road toll operator Salik on the first day of subscription, Bloomberg reports, indicating continued strong demand for Gulf IPOs at a time when the listing pipeline in other markets has all but dried up. Dubai hopes to raise USD 817 mn by selling a 20% stake in Salik at AED 2.0 (USD 0.54) per share, valuing the company at some USD 4.1 bn. The company is expected to make its market debut on 29 September. The sale marks the emirate’s third IPO of the year as part of a plan to add depth to the market by listing 10 state-owned firms.

Advisors- Our friends at EFG Hermes and HSBC are joint bookrunners alongside Citigroup, while Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are global coordinators.

Saudi wealth fund dives into local tourism: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will acquire a 30% stake in Seera Group Holding’s tourism arm Almosafer Travel and Tourism in a SAR 1.5 bn (USD 413.5 mn) transaction, it said in a disclosure to the Saudi stock exchange. Around a quarter of the investment is an earn-out linked to company KPIs for the next two years. The move comes as the fund looks to diversify its investment portfolio, and against the backdrop of a Saudi push to open the country to tourists as it looks to reduce its dependence on oil revenues.

ALSO IN PLANET FINANCE-

• Serbia is the latest country to turn to the IMF: Serbia wants to negotiate with the IMF and the UAE for emergency funding as it struggles amid soaring borrowing costs. (Financial Times)
• “Debt monsters”: The FT lists some 207 companies whose debt burdens spell danger as rates rise and cashflows tighten — including Chinese real estate firms, a French supermarket chain, an Indian miner, and a Belgian toilet manufacturer. (Financial Times)
• When low unemployment is a bad sign: The UK’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in almost 50 years in July, recording 3.6% — but the decline was mostly down to more people dropping out of the workforce, while high wage growth suggests a shortage of jobseekers. (ONS | Reuters)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.4% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.44 bn (35.5% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 13.0% YTD.

In the green: Cleopatra Hospitals (+4.0%), Fawry (+1.4%) and Oriental Weavers (+0.7%).

In the red: Qalaa Holding (-2.7%), Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (-2.1%) and e-Finance (-1.9%).