The UAE’s largest hypermarket operator, Lulu Retail Holdings, has confirmed that it would offer 2.58 billion shares, equivalent to 25 per cent, to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. According to a statement for public release, “the offering will be open from October 28 to November 5, and the final share price will be determined on November 6”.
The move follows the local listing of Spinney’s, the UAE retailer in May on the Dubai Financial Market. This becomes the fourth Initial Public Offering to hit ADX this year.
The retail business, Lulu will attract interest due to its robust footprints in the GCC region. The firm has 240 outlets in six countries with 103 stores in the UAE.
Yusuff Ali, founder, chairman, and non-executive director at Lulu Retail says, “We are proud to announce the planned listing of Lulu Retail on ADX. This brings to the market the largest pan-GCC full-line retailer in terms of selling space, sales, and store count.”
Our growth has been driven by the vision and ambition of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other GCC nations, where strong national leadership is fostering positive demographic and consumption trends, leading to impressive economic growth, he said.
The shares are expected to list on the ADX on November 14. The offering will be open to UAE retail investors, professional investors, and senior executives within the company.
Ali was optimistic over the IPO and said: “We look forward to welcoming new shareholders to Lulu and are confident they will share our passion for the company and its future.”Lulu also plans to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 75 percent of annual distributable profits after tax, with the dividends paid out twice a year.
Saifee Rupawala, chief executive officer for Lulu Retail, said, “Our business model combines scale with a proven track record of strong revenue growth, attractive profit margins, and a clear growth strategy. It is all about enhancing and increasing value from our existing stores, expansion of our network, and operational efficiencies along with private label and loyalty programs’ growth.”
This market also offers a lot to GCC, with an opportunity worth $100 billion over the next five years; Saudi Arabia is one area, according to him, that should be paid attention to in more detail.
It announced new hypermarkets in Makkah and Madinah that would strengthen its hold in Saudi Arabia. A company like Jabal Omar Development Co. comes behind the Makkah site, and the driving force of the plan will be Al Manakha Urban Project Development Co. in Madinah. This rewritten text ends up without any repetition, still carrying a tone of a human while correcting some minor grammatical inaccuracies.
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