Delivery Hero gears up to list Talabat on DFM: German last-mile delivery firm Delivery Hero is planning to list Talabat’s shares on DFM in 4Q 2024, according to a press release (pdf). The firm said the IPO is still awaiting approval from the Securities and Commodities Authority’s (SCA).

What do we know? Delivery Hero said in a separate disclosure that the shares might be offered in a secondary sale on the exchange, allowing it to retain a majority stake post-sale. The German firm did not disclose the number of shares it will be floating or how much it is looking to raise.

Talabat’s gross merchandise value (GMV) climbed 29.2% y-o-y to EUR 5.91 bn in 1H 2024, representing 25% of Delivery Hero’s overall GMV, the German company said in its earnings release (pdf).

A play at boosting its share price? The German company’s share price has fallen 85% from its January 2021 peak as food delivery stocks took the brunt of a post-pandemic sell-off, Reuters reports. Jeffries analysts said the IPO could bring about a positive response from investors, and will help support its balance sheet after the sale of its Asian subsidiary foodpanda to Uber Eats.

The caveat? The IPO would also restrict access to the cashflow from its most profitable business unit, which it will need to fight off “intensified competition in South Korea,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Tatiana Lisitsina and Diana Gomes said.

REFRESHER- This would be the third market debut on the DFM in 2024, following the successful IPOs of Parkin, which raised AED 1.57 bn, and Spinneys, which raised AED 1.38 bn.

There’s more in the pipeline for the DFM, with construction firm Alec and tapping advisors for a planned IPO and Amanat Holdings looking to list either its education or healthcare unit, with reports that its healthcare unit could raise some USD 200 mn as soon as this year. Meanwhile, shisha producer Advanced Inhalation Rituals was said to be eyeing an IPO in 1H 2024. Hospitality group Five Holdings also tapped advisors for a potential IPO next year.

ICYMI- The UAE’s IPO pipeline is heating up, with the National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) announcing earlier this week that it will list 23% of its shares — valued at AED 3.22 bn — in its unit, NMDC Energy, on the ADX by September after receiving approval from the SCA and ADX.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *