talabat Debuts on Dubai Financial Market
talabat Holding, MENA region’s leading on-demand food, grocery and retail platform for everyday deliveries, which is owned by Germany’s online food marketplace Delivery Hero, was successfully listed on Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Tuesday.
The company’s landmark initial public offering (IPO), which raised gross proceeds of $2 billion through the offering of 20% of its total issued share capital, is the largest global technology IPO in 2024, the largest IPO in the GCC this year, and the first ever technology sector IPO on DFM.
Priced at the top of the Offer Price Range ($0.44 per share), talabat’s offering drew significant demand from local, regional and international investors.
Cornerstone investors participating in talabat’s IPO included Emirates NBD AM SPC acting on behalf of the UAE Strategic Investment Fund 5 SP, Abu Dhabi Pension Fund, Emirates International Investment Company LLC, reflecting confidence in talabat’s future growth.
Demand also included a number of sizeable anchor orders from global long-only and technology sector investors, including several that are investing for the first time on DFM. talabat’s debut is the third successful listing on DFM in 2024, cementing Dubai’s growing appeal as a global capital market hub and DFM’s increasingly vibrant and attractive ecosystem.
To celebrate the listing, talabat’s CEO Tomaso Rodriguez rang the DFM market-opening bell in the presence of DFM Chairman Helal Al Marri, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Hamed Ali, and Niklas Östberg, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Delivery Hero.
Delivery Hero, the selling shareholder and a public company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, will remain a majority shareholder in the company.
talabat currently operates in eight markets such as the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq. For the month of September 2024, the Company’s on-demand platform had more than six million active customers, more than 65,000 active restaurants and other groceries and retail vendors and more than 119,000 active riders.
Its growth strategy is focused on five key pillars: enhancing its product offering and increasing market penetration, scaling its advertising offerings, continuing to invest in Customer Loyalty Programs and FinTech, entering adjacent product categories and pursuing targeted investments, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.
talabat’s listing maintains Dubai’s stellar IPO pipeline, with the total value of funds raised on DFM in 2024 reaching $2.85 billion while the market ranked as the best performing regional market for the second year in a row.
Strengthens Dubai’s Position
Helal Al Marri said that talabat’s successful listing on DFM underscored Dubai’s position as a dynamic global financial hub. The listing also highlighted the robust regulatory environment and infrastructure that underpin Dubai’s financial ecosystem.
“We are committed to attract prominent private-sector companies to list, further diversifying investment opportunities for both regional and international investors, enhancing DFM’s diversified sector offerings and paving the way for more consumer, technology, and retail companies to leverage our platform for growth and capital raising,” he said.
Welcoming talabat’s listing on its home market, Hamed Ali said that this IPO exemplified the strength of Dubai’s capital markets and the unmatched confidence investors have in the UAE.
Tomaso Rodriguez said that ringing the bell at DFM is the culmination of a two-decade journey of transformation, marked by ambition, innovation and a passion to serve and deliver to the region that delivers.
“As a brand that is proud of its deep local roots, we have been genuinely pleased with the excitement and demand that our IPO has generated both locally and globally. Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for talabat and the region’s wider tech sector and we are delighted to be welcoming new shareholders to be a part of our ambitious roadmap for the future,” he added.
