(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Company plans 100 fashion stores restaurants and cafes
Marka’s initial public offering (ipo) is expected to attract huge turnout as the company is planning to open more than 100 fashion stores restaurants and cafes in the uae and rest of the gulf countries.
The ipo is not restricted to the gcc nationals only and open to all investors top officials of the company told reporters at a media roundtable on wednesday in dubai.
The event was attended by jamal al hai chairman of marka founders committee; khalid almheiri deputy chairman of the founders committee and dr mahdi mattar ceo of capm investment marka’s financial advisor and lead manager of the ipo.
The 12-day offer of 275 million shares at dh1 each representing 55 per cent of the company’s capital has received final regulatory approval and will start on april 13.
Responding a question to khaleej times regarding other listed companies’ move to increase foreign ownership al hai said that they are in different sectors and marka is into retail which is perfomring excellent in the country.
“we expect that a large turnout for marka’s shares will revive the ipo market in the uae by encouraging other companies to go ahead with their ipo plans” al hai said.
The founders committee of marka a public joint stock company under incorporation with a capital of dh500 million said that the company will use the proceeds from the ipo towards capital expenditures and operating expenses associated with the opening of fashion stores restaurants and cafes.
It is planned that the company will allocate 50 per cent of its investments for retail and the other 50 per cent will be allocated for the opening of restaurants and cafes. these investments will see the introduction of five new concepts in fashion and six new concepts in restaurants and cafes over the next five years.
Al hai expects that the ipo will enjoy a huge turnout in attributed to projected strong growth company prospects due in part to marka’s focus on the introduction of new concepts in the retail and food and beverages (f&b) sectors in the uae and the broader gcc region. he said both these sectors are witnessing increased activities and high profit margins exceeding the prevailing rates in many other sectors.
Almheiri said: “in addition to marka being the first public shareholding company operating in the uae’s retail sector and f&b sectors the significant growth prospect of the company along with the growing confidence in the local economy and the current recovery in the stock markets in the country all contribute to stimulating the demand for ipo shares.”
He said that marka in its first phase will focus on creating a strong presence in abu dhabi and dubai in particular and will gradually be expanding into the rest of the region. al muhairi noted that in the second phase marka will introduce new brands and concepts to the markets of saudi arabia kuwait and qatar.
Dr mattar said: “we expect to have large turnout and an ipo oversubscription due to the high growth prospects which the company enjoys on the one hand and the return of confidence to the financial markets on the other.”
Eight banks and financial institutions will receive the contributions of the investors willing to subscribe to the company’s shares including national bank of abu dhabi union national bank abu dhabi commercial bank dubai islamic bank national bank of fujairah commercial bank international finance house and islamic finance house.
— abdulbasit?khaleejtimes.com
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