Salik appoints Ibrahim Al Haddad as chief executive

The appointment was made at the road toll operator's first board meeting since it became a public joint stock company

Ibrahim Al Haddad spent the past nine years as commercial and investment director at Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority. Photo: Salik

Salik, Dubai's road toll operator, has appointed Ibrahim Al Haddad as chief executive ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO).

Mr Al Haddad spent the past nine years as commercial and investment director at Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority and previously held roles at Mubadala, Sama Dubai and Dubai Municipality.

“He has the strong management skills and strategic insights that will be invaluable for the next phase of Salik’s evolution,” board chairman Mattar Al Tayer said.

Mr Al Haddad said he was “excited about the role and Salik's future”, and is seeking to contribute to the enhancement of Dubai's road network.

In June, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, issued a regulation to turn Salik into a public joint stock company before its potential IPO.

The meeting to appoint Mr Al Haddad as chief executive was the first since the regulation was issued.

Last week, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, appointed the company's board members. They include vice chairman Abdulmohsen Abdulrahman, Maitha bin Uday, Mohammed Al Mudharreb, Mr Al Haddad, Mohammed Linjawi, and Mohammed Al Hawi.

Dubai announced plans in November to list 10 state-owned companies to increase the size of its financial market to Dh3 trillion ($816.8 billion), and set up a Dh2bn market maker fund to encourage the listing of more private companies from sectors such as energy, logistics and retail.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority was the first government entity to list on the Dubai Financial Market. The utility raised Dh22.41bn from its IPO in April, making it the largest public float in the Middle East and Europe since Saudi Aramco went public in 2019.

Tecom, the operator of business districts in Dubai, also made its debut on the DFM on Tuesday, having raised Dh1.7bn from its IPO last month.

The IPO was 21 times oversubscribed, with total gross demand at more than Dh35bn.

Officials said last year that Salik would be among the public entities listed on the DFM.