Khaleej Times reported that Danube Building Materials plans to launch an initial public offering in the UAE or Saudi Arabia in the next 5 years.
Mr Rizwan Sajan chairman of Danube Building Materials said that “I want to make Danube a billion dollar company then we will go public and with an annual growth rate of 30-40 per cent this target will not be too far.”
The company’s decision to go public is driven by the significant growth it has witnessed in recent years, which peaked in 2009 when it secured a total of AED 1 billion in annual turnover despite various challenges posed by the global financial crisis. With a view to hit AED 2.5 to AED 3 billion in the next 3 to 4 years, as the market fully recovers and prices normalize, the company revealed that it is also open to dual listing in both countries.
With nine Danube Buildmart stores currently in operation, the company has earmarked AED 200 million towards the expansion of its retail brand to a total of 16 branches by year end. The company is also looking into expanding further into other Gulf construction hotspots including Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and India.
Mr Sajan said that it took a lot of courage to open nine stores last year in the midst of what was the worst situation for everyone in the construction sector. However, the expansion we have seen during this period further strengthened our position in the market and is encouraging us to access public equity markets in the UAE and Saudi markets.
He said that this year, we are targeting to secure 30% to 40% growth and we are confident of the prospects given the region’s steady movement towards recovery.
Danube Building Materials started as a building materials supplier, but has since diversified into a one stop shop concept called Danube Buildmart last year. Today, there are a total of 20 global Danube retail facilities 15 in the UAE, two in Oman, one each in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India in addition to procurement offices in China and Canada. The company has also invested AED 50 million in a new 1.3 million square feet manufacturing facility in TechnoPark, which will be functional by early 2011.
Mr Sajan said that “Spreading risk has helped us weather the downturn and now that the payments situation in the market seems to be improving, we are planning to expand into India within the next two years. We are currently looking at Mumbai for our initial foray into this massive market.”
(Sourced from Khaleej Times)
