Dubizzle Group to offer 30% stake through IPO

Classifieds platform Dubizzle plans to offer a 30.34% stake through an IPO, as per an official update by the company. A total of roughly 1.250 billion shares will be offered, with the final price yet to be decided. 

The update comes a week after construction firm Alec Holdings wrapped up its public offering, raising AED 1.4 million, a sign that companies are slowly trickling in for debuts on the Dubai Financial Market. 

Another notable offering that happened in Dubai this year was Du’s SPO, which raised AED 3.15 billion, made possible by a sell-down of shares from a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company.

Dubizzle is also pursuing an expansion to other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other countries in the GCC. 

“Dubizzle Group is the leading digital classifieds platform in the MENA region, with 18 million monthly active users across property, automotive, general goods, and other categories,” said Dubizzle Group CEO Imran Ali Khan. 

“This IPO marks an exciting new chapter for Dubizzle Group. By welcoming a broader shareholder base, we are positioning the Group to accelerate growth, deepen our presence in the markets where we operate, and create long-term value for our users, clients, employees, and shareholders alike,” he also said. 

The shares for sale will be separated into two tranches, with 3% allocated in a public offering for retail investors, and 97% to be offered to institutional investors in and outside the U.A.E. Both tranches of investors are required to have a NIN (National Investor Number) registered with the DFM before subscribing.

As per the timeline laid down in official documents, the offering period will run from 23rd October to 29th October, with the final DFM (Dubai Financial Market) listing to take place on 6th November.

Emirates NBD has been appointed as the official listing adviser for a period of 12 months from the date of listing.

Prosus N.V. —which is the largest shareholder of the company with a 37.95% stake through subsidiary OLX B.V.—will still remain so after the offering, with a stake of 36.14%. Prosius will also commit an additional $100 million investment in the offering. 

Other significant investors who will be diluted after the offering include Kingsway Frontier Consumer Interest Fund and two of its associated segregated portfolios, KCK Ventures LTD, and an Affinity Partners Parallel Fund. 

Prosus Head of Investment Fahd Beg has said that since the company’s initial investment in 2011, the firm has seen Dubizzle grow into an established classifieds platform. 

Currently, Dubizzle manages multiple segments, mainly an online general classifieds platform under its own name that targets several product categories, and Bayut, a classifieds online portal that is focused on real estate. 

Both of these offerings have been bolstered by a slew of acquisitions in recent years, such as Pakistan’s property platform Zameen.com, automotive portal DriveArabia, and real estate intelligence platform Property Monitor

Sources of revenue for the company include car dealerships paying a fee for listing their products on Dubizzle, while real estate agencies do the same for listing on Bayut.

In the case of individual automobile sellers of second-hand cars, payments go to Dubizzle at the point of sale, as listed in official documents.

Dubizzle’s IPO also comes amid a renewed strategy for Dubai’s financial sector after transaction volumes specifically for virtual asset entities under the purview of VARA hit a peak of AED 2.5 trillion.