Spinneys, the operator of premium supermarkets in the UAE and Oman, plans to float its shares through an initial public offering on the Dubai Financial Market.
Spinneys will sell 900 million shares, or 25 per cent of the company’s issued share capital, through the IPO, it said on Tuesday. All shares being submitted in the public float are held by Al Seer Group as the selling shareholder.
The IPO will be open for subscription for UAE investors as part of the retail portion of the deal. Institutional investors will also be able to subscribe as part of the qualified investors’ offering. The subscription period for retail investors will commence on April 23 and go on to the end of April 29. For professional investors, it will conclude on April 30. The final offer price will be decided through a book-building process and Spinneys shares are expected to begin trading on the DFM in May.
Mr. Ali Saeed Juma Al Bwardy, founder, and chairman of Spinneys, said,
“Having begun our story in Dubai in the early 1960s, we are proud to be taking another significant step in our journey. Spinneys is a long-standing brand with a strong heritage in the UAE and a commitment to quality, evolving over the decades to become one of the country’s leading premium fresh-focused food retailers. Ours is a brand with huge ambition, positioned to flourish in the GCC’s most attractive and fast-growing markets. Our IPO represents an opportunity for investors to be part of our next stage of growth and we are excited to embark on a new chapter, bringing our fresh opportunity to a wider shareholder base.”
The objective to float shares by Spinneys is the latest among issuers lining up to raise funds through listing amid the continued economic momentum in Dubai.
The government aims to expand the size of the emirate’s financial market to Dh3 trillion and six state-owned enterprises have listed on the DFM since 2022. Parking operator Parkin’s IPO last month, the first in the UAE capital markets this year, raised Dh1.57 billion from investors. Demand for the deal hit a record Dh259 billion.
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Spinneys, which operates premium grocery retail supermarkets under its own brand as well as Waitrose and Al Fair in the UAE and Oman, plans to expand into Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, this year. It controlled a 27 per cent share of its target market in Dubai and 12 per cent of the Dh23 billion target market in the UAE in 2022.
