Page 254 - AAE PR REPORT - June 2024

5/10/24, 10:00 AM Spinneys Shares Climb 11% In Dubai Trading Debut After Raising Over $375M In IPO
Spinneys’ IPO had Franklin Templeton as a cornerstone investor, making it one of the few

firms in the UAE to lure international cornerstones. In 2021, Fertiglobe Plc’s Abu Dhabi

listing drew Singapore’s GIC Pte and US hedge fund manager Jeff Ubben.

Emirates NBD Capital, Bank of America Corp., and HSBC Holdings Plc were joint global

coordinators for Spinneys’ IPO, while EFG Hermes was a joint bookrunner. Rothschild &

Co. was the independent financial adviser.

Spinney performance

Spinney's profit attributable to equity holders of the company stood at $69.7 million (AED

256.2 million) in 2023, compared to $58.3 million (AED 214.3 million) a year earlier.

Revenues reached $781.7 million (AED 2.9 billion) in 2023, compared to $716.01 million

(AED 2.6 billion) a year earlier.

Spinneys, owned by the Al Bwardy family, opened its first store in 1961 and now operates

75 supermarkets under the Spinneys, Waitrose, and Al Fair brands in the UAE and Oman.

This year, it plans to expand into Saudi Arabia.

UAE IPOs

The UAE has seen a wave of listings since late 2021, but the vast majority have been state-

owned companies.

The last family-owned company to go public in the UAE was money exchange firm Al

Ansari Financial Services, which raised $210 million last year. After rising as much as 23%
from the offer price, the shares are now trading about 3% above that level.

Of the 24 companies that have listed in the UAE since the start of 2021, only six —

including Spinneys — have been privately-owned, according to data compiled by

Bloomberg.

In general, the regional food retail sector is witnessing similar IPOs, with more planned in

the pipeline. In December 2022, Americana floated a dual listing on the Saudi Exchange and
the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), becoming the first company in the region to be

listed on the two bourses.

https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/money/markets/spinneys-shares-climb-11-in-dubai-trading-debut-after-raising-%24375m-in-ipo 2/3