Spinneys makes Dubai stock exchange debut

Spinneys 1961 Holding PLC, an operator of premium grocery retail supermarkets under the Spinneys, Waitrose and Al Fair brands in the UAE and Oman, started trading on Thursday on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Spinneys’ IPO saw significant demand from international and regional institutional investors, as well as retail investors in the UAE, attracting around AED 71 billion ($19 billion) in orders.

The Offering was oversubscribed by 64 times in aggregate (excluding the cornerstone investor), representing the highest level of demand and oversubscription for a non-government-related IPO on DFM in recent years. In response, the UAE Retail Offering was increased from 5 per cent to 7 per cent of the total offer shares.

The final offer price was set at AED 1.53 per share, at the top end of the offer price range, raising around AED 1.38 billion ($375 million) and implying a market capitalisation of AED 5.51 billion ($1.50 billion) on admission to trading. The Company now trades under ticker symbol "SPINNEYS".

Ali Saeed Juma Al Bwardy, Chairman of Spinneys, rang the DFM market opening bell to celebrate the listing, in the presence of Helal Al Marri, Chairman of DFM, and Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, alongside the Board and Management of Spinneys and other officials.