Dubai’s Marka To List Shares In Mid-September

Dubai retailing and restaurants group Marka plans to list its shares on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in the second week of September, in what would be the bourse’s first flotation for five years, the company said on Wednesday.

New share issues dried up in Dubai when its financial crisis erupted five years ago and Marka’s float, which comes after its sale of shares to investors in April, signals a reopening of the market as investment conditions improve.

The company raised Dhs275 million ($75 million) in an offer that was 36 times subscribed. At least several other share offerings are believed to be under preparation in Dubai.

The company initially planned to list its shares on the DFM around the first week of June, but the market was hit by massive volatility that month as a speculative bubble burst.

Marka was founded earlier this year by prominent UAE investors. It says it will spend the proceeds of the share sale on opening more than 100 fashion retail outlets, restaurants and cafes in the UAE and across the Gulf Arab region in the next five years.

In March Dubai’s other, smaller stock exchange, NASDAQ Dubai, saw its first flotation since the financial crisis, a $175 million offer by Emirates REIT.