Saudi Food Delivery Startup Jahez Announces IPO Plans
Saudi Food Delivery Startup Jahez Announces IPO Plans
(Bloomberg) -- Riyadh-based food delivery firm Jahez, which competes with firms like Hunger Station, is preparing to list on the parallel market of the Saudi stock exchange in what will be the kingdom’s first initial public offering of a technology startup.
Jahez International Company for Information Systems Technology, as the company is formally known, is preparing to list a 13% stake, or 1.36 million shares, it said in a statement Wednesday. That includes the sale of a 8.5% stake of new shares. In May, the firm hired HSBC Holdings Plc’s local unit as the sole financial adviser and global coordinator for its IPO.
Jahez’s profit rose to 90 million ($24 million) in the first nine months of the year, from 39 million riyals in 2020. Gross merchanise value, including value added tax and fees, was 3.2 billion in the first nine months of the year, up from 1.9 billion riyals in 2020.
The biggest locally owned food delivery group in Saudi Arabia, Jahez will be listed on Nomu, the Saudi stock exchange’s small-cap market, which imposes lighter listing requirements to encourage smaller businesses and startups to raise equity.
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