Talabat IPO: Parent of UAE food delivery firm preparing for Dubai listing

Delivery Hero, the Germany-based parent of the food delivery company, will sell existing shares in the planned fourth-quarter public float

Launched in Kuwait in 2004, Talabat operates in several Mena countries, including the UAE. Victor Besa / The National

Delivery Hero, the Germany-based food delivery platform, is preparing to list share of its UAE subsidiary Talabat on the Dubai bourse, as it looks to capitalise on the continued economic momentum and listing boom in the Emirates this year.

The Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero is “preparing” for the initial public offering of Talabat on the Dubai Financial Market in the fourth quarter of this year, Talabat said in a statement on Thursday.

The Berlin-based parent will sell existing shares in its Emirati subsidiary, it said without giving the size of the potential public float or the use of its proceeds.

“A listing may be pursued through a secondary sale of shares by Delivery Hero which would retain the majority interest in the local listing entity after an IPO,” Delivery Hero said in a separate bourse filing on Thursday.

Talabat, the on-demand food and quick-commerce app, said its IPO remains subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions. The company and its parent will update the market regarding the progress on the potential listing.

Growing pipeline

Talabat joins a growing list of companies seeking to list share on equity markets in the UAE this year amid continued economic momentum in the Arab world’s second-largest economy.

Talabat’s intention to float follows construction and dredging services provider NMDC Group’s announcement on Wednesday to list shares of its unit NMDC Energy on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

The company has secured listing approval from the market regulator Commodities and Securities Authority for what would be the UAE’s biggest IPO this year.

NMDC Group plans to raise Dh3.22 billion ($877 million) from the sale of its stake in its energy subsidiary. The parent is offering 1.15 billion shares in the business at Dh2.80 dirhams a piece, it said in a statement.

The subscription period for the deal will start on Friday and will remain open until September 4 for individual and qualified investors.

First Abu Dhabi Bank is the lead manager for the deal, which would trump the $515 million raised by Alef Education earlier this year, but will be smaller than the healthcare operator Pure Health’s $986 million listing in December last year.

The list of potential IPOs is also growing.

In June, UAE-based hospital operator NMC Healthcare appointed Rothschild as a financial adviser to help it explore strategic options for its shareholders, including an IPO.

Abu Dhabi’s LuLu Group International is also planning to launch its IPO this year and list its shares on the ADX, the region's second-largest bourse by market capitalisation.

The hypermarket and chain operator has hired investment bank Moelis to advise it on the deal, a company representative told The National last year.

IPO momentum

The UAE, as well as the other members of the six-member economic bloc of the GCC, have seen a consistent rise in IPO activity over the past two years.

Companies in the UAE raised $890 million through IPOs in the second quarter of this year alone.

Saudi Arabia's Tadawul, however, led the volume of deals, with companies in the kingdom raising an aggregate of $1.6 billion, or 61 per cent, of the total IPO activity recorded during the period, according to PwC's quarterly IPO Watch report.

The DFM, over the past few years, has also seen substantial listing activity.

Companies in Dubai raised Dh34.5 billion through selling shares in the past three years, with aggregate investor demand for those listings reaching more than Dh1 trillion, the Dubai Securities and Exchange Higher Committee said in March.

The continued IPO activity in that period has helped the Dubai bourse to maintain robust growth that pushed its general index to become the fifth-best performer globally last year, the committee said.

In November 2021, Dubai said it would list 10 state-owned companies and establish a Dh2 billion market maker fund to encourage listings from private companies in sectors such as energy, logistics and retail.

The government aims to expand the size of the emirate's financial market to Dh3 trillion and six state-owned enterprises have listed on the DFM since 2022.

Retailer Spinney's was the last to list shares on the DFM in April. Parking operator Parkin's IPO in March was the first in the UAE capital markets this year, which raised Dh1.57 billion from investors. Demand for the deal hit a record Dh259 billion.