Dubizzle Group, the MENA region's premier digital classifieds company, is pleased to announce its intention to proceed with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The Company will offer 1,249,526,391 ordinary shares, equivalent to 30.34% of its total share capital.
This IPO presents a strategic opportunity to invest in a proven market leader with a powerful dual-platform ecosystem: dubizzle, a broad horizontal marketplace, and Bayut, a dedicated real estate vertical. The Group is the primary partner for property agencies and automotive dealers, positioning it for accelerated growth.
Dubizzle Group is the leading digital classifieds marketplace across the MENA region and a household name in the UAE. The Group connects individual and business sellers (listers) with prospective buyers across several verticals, particularly real estate and automotive, through its powerful digital ecosystem made of two flagship platforms: dubizzle, a broad horizontal platform spanning real estate, automotive, and general classifieds, and Bayut, a specialised vertical platform dedicated exclusively to real estate.
Dubizzle Group’s growth strategy focuses on three pillars:
Dubizzle Group platforms connect individual and business sellers (listers) with prospective buyers. In the real estate vertical, dubizzle and Bayut are entrenched as the primary choice of property agencies, which subscribe annually to both platforms to list their inventory of properties for sale or rent to generate leads with property seekers and benefit from the Group’s full suite of CRM and lead generation software, which is deeply embedded in agents’ workflows. In the autos vertical, dubizzle is entrenched as the primary choice for car dealers who subscribe annually to dubizzle to list their inventory online and generate leads with prospective car buyers. Individual sellers can also list their own car (or any other goods) for sale and pay per listing on dubizzle.
Dubizzle Group is the absolute market leader in UAE Autos classifieds with c.87% revenue market share. The Group is also a distinct number one in an attractive two-player UAE real estate classifieds market with 50% revenue market share and 65% traffic share, and the highest number of listings, agent/seeker net promoter score, and strong brand awareness. The Group also benefits from strong leadership positions in other MENA markets and a clear first-mover advantage in KSA integrated services.
Dubizzle Group will be listing its shares solely on the Dubai Financial Market in the UAE.
The offering will comprise a mix of primary and secondary (allowing existing shareholders to sell part of their holdings), with the primary component amounting to c.US$100m proceeds to be used (i) to settle the Dubizzle Group’s Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOP”), (ii) to fund strategic M&A opportunities, and (iii) to maintain strategic flexibility for growth going forward.
While classifieds is an inherently high cash-generating business model, in the short term, Dubizzle Group expects cash flows to be re-invested in growing the business, with a focus on product innovation and market expansion, both organically (primarily in KSA) and inorganically through strategic M&A activity. In the medium term, Dubizzle Group envisages putting in place an attractive dividend policy for shareholders, in line with its targeted strong cash-flow generation.