Supermarket franchisee Spinneys Dubai plans IPO in 2024

Spinneys Dubai LLC, the franchisee of the supermarket chain in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, is planning an initial public offering of the business in the second quarter of 2024, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Albwardy Investment, the franchise's 100% owner, hired Rothschild & Co to advise on the planned IPO, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the plans are not public.

It invited banks this week to pitch for roles in the offering, expected to be up to 30 per cent of the company, the sources added.

Spinneys, Albwardy and Rothschild did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Spinneys Dubai operates more than 65 stores across the UAE, its website says. In addition, it operates at least seven stores in Oman, Albwardy's website says.

Albwardy, which says it has annual turnover above $1 billion, also owns the franchise rights to upmarket British supermarket chain Waitrose.

Founded in the mid-1970s, it has a hospitality portfolio that includes several Four Seasons hotels and food distribution investments that include Nestle UAE.

Other sectors in Albwardy's portfolio are industrial and engineering, commercial and insurance, agribusiness and properties.

The potential IPO of Spinneys Dubai, planned on the Dubai Financial Market, would add to the growing regional food retail sector.

Lulu Group, a hypermarket and mall operator, expects its IPO in the first half of 2024, its chairman said earlier this month, adding that it hired Moelis & Co to advise it, confirming an October 2022 Reuters report.

The volume of IPOs on bourses in the Mena region climbed by 44 per cent annually in the second quarter of this year amid robust economic growth, according to global consultancy EY.

Growth in the number of deals was driven by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the top regional economies, EY said in a report last month.

The number of listings rose to 13 during the three-month period to the end of June, bucking the global slowdown in equity capital markets activity, it said.

However, proceeds from Mena listings dropped by 80 per cent to $1.8 billion, according to EY data.

Middle East IPOs raised more than $23 billion in 2022 from 48 listings, compared with $7.52 billion from 20 offerings in the previous year.