UAE retailer Lulu to launch IPO next week, sell 25% stake
Lulu Retail Holding is set to be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange where it is scheduled for listing on November 14, 2024
UAE'S retail giant Lulu Group said it would sell 25 percent shares which would be available through an onto the stock market through an initial public Louiseiphen (IPO) with nominal value of Dh0.051 each.
By way of a prospectus, over 2.582 billion shares (billion two five eight two million two hundred twenty six thousand three hundred thirty-eight) are planned to be Sold through a three-tiered IPO which will take place from October 28–November 5.
Lulu Retail Holding is set to be registered with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The listing is expected on November 14, 2024. The minimum and maximum price for the offer will be published the same day or prior to the opening of the offering on October 28.
Joint lead receiving banks include Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Abu Dhabi. Joint lead managers are Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East, and EFG Hermes UAE. The receiving banks are First Abu Dhabi Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Mashreq and Emirates NBD.
The past two years have witnessed numerous IPOs from the public and private sectors including, to name a few, the Dubai Taxi Corporation, Salik, AI Ansari Exchange, Pure Health, Investcorp Capital, Phoenix Group, Adnoc’s related entities, etc.
There was a strong appetite for new retail issues in the form of prior IPOs from the retail and institutional investors. Analysts are also confident that Lulu will have a great response for its share sale when it happens next week.
Over 50,000 people work for the Lulu group which is a leading retailer in the UAE and gulf region. Investors have been anticipating to invest in the retail giants IPO for a long time that would give them ownership in the company.
In 2020, ADQ bought a $1 billion stake in the company amounting to 20 per cent, enabling the retailer to grow in new markets. In the first tranche, 258.222 million of the number of shares will be offered for subscription which is 10 percent of the offer share. Any person subscribing to the offer excluding eligible employees of the Company shall have a minimum guaranteed allotment of 1,000 shares whereas all eligible employees shall have a minimum guaranteed allotment of 2,000 shares.
Under the second tranche, Lulu Retail plans to sell 2,298,181,441 shares, which makes up 89 per cent of the to be sold share. More than 25.822 million shares will be sold in the third tranche which is equivalent to one per cent of the offer share.
The selling shareholders retain the right to change the terms of the public offer, in line with the prospectus.
Selling shareholders are expected to be subjected to a lock-up period of 180 days post listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The Lulu Group which is found in all GCC countries was ranked first for selling space, sales, and stores number in 2023. The Group was the second largest grocery store chain in the UAE, the largest grocery store chain in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait and the largest pan-GCC retailer in the fast-growing Saudi market as per market analysts. It has a robust 3 format hypermarkets, express stores and mini-markets omni-channel presence.
As of August 2024, the group managed 240 outlets, out of which 116 were hypermarkets,102 express stores, and 22 were mini markets,103 were situated in the UAE, 56 in Saudi Arabia and 81 other markets.
According to the data provided as of December 31, 2023, the selling space of the group was 1.3 million sq. Meter which is approximately three times the average selling space of its listed peers in the GCC. The retailer, on average, was serving more than 600 thousand shoppers on a daily basis in 2023. The company has a total of twenty-one distribution centers in the GCC region to support its retail activities and sourced products from eighty-five countries.
Comments