The Emirati supermarket chain Union Coop on Friday announced its intention to list shares on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on July 18, as the first retail cooperative in the UAE that takes this pioneering step.
The listing is a part of the Securities and Exchange Higher Commission’s strategy aimed at increasing stock market size in the emirate to AED3 trillion ($816.6 billion), raise competitiveness of bourses and encourage initial public offerings (IPOs).
The Union Coop also announced the suspension of trading on its shares through its portal as of July 1 and that trading will be resumed on July 18 through the DFM.
It said the Union will exercise a share split as per the equation of one to 10, where each Union Coop member will receive 10 shares against each currently-owned share. The share price will be determined on the first day of trading.
The Union Coop maintains a momentous record of operational and financial excellence since 1984, as its net profits recorded a compound annual growth rate of 20.5%, while its sales increased 16.85%.
It registered a 2.6% increase in net profits of Q1 2022 to AED116.5 million ($31.7 million), while net profits of the full year 2021 reached AED413 million ($112.4 million).
Khalid al- Falasi, CEO of the Union Coop, said this step represents a key milestone in the Coop’s development journey, as it provides its members with an efficient, regulated and transparent marketplace for trading of their shares.
“It also enables us, as a listed Union Coop, to leverage the numerous benefits of capital markets to implement our growth strategy and provide our members with the DFM innovative services, such as the seamless cash dividend distribution.”
CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai Hamed Ali said the imminent listing underlines the joint efforts between the DFM and various economic sectors in Dubai to accelerate the implementation of the emirate’s strategy to develop its financial markets.
The Coop is persistently working under the direct supervision of the Supreme Committee for the Development of Financial Markets to achieve the strategic objectives and strengthen Dubai's leading position as a global capital markets hub by creating highly efficient, transparent, diversified and deep financial marketplace, he added.
The Union Coop witnessed remarkable expansion, starting with two branches in 1984 to 24 and four malls in 2021.
