DALDA plans IPO launch to raise around Rs4.6bn

January 24, 2023 (MLN): Pakistan’s leading edible oil manufacturing company Dalda Foods Limited is planning to raise between Rs3.3 billion to Rs4.6bn through Initial Public Offering (IPO), as per Bloomberg reported.

“At Rs4.6bn, the company’s IPO would be Pakistan’s largest by a consumer staple company”, Bloomberg highlighted. 

Dalda’s Chief Executive Officer Aziz Jindani said, “The company is eyeing to raise funds or in a share sale that could take place before Ramadan, which will start on March 22.”

IPO is meant to fund Port Qasim’s expansion, mentioning its factory outlet in Karachi, he further added.

Moreover, “The proceeds could expand its capacity in Karachi to extract oil from seeds, and it may reach 900 tons a day, more than doubling the current rate", he said.

Mr. Shahid Habib, CEO of Arif Habib Limited added, “The offering could be around 50mn shares, consisting of two-thirds of new shares and the rest from existing shareholders.

Dalda is Pakistan’s leading brand in the cooking oil industry and it evolves from Unilever Plc in 2004.

“It’s recession-proof as a category,” Dalda’s CEO said, despite high inflation consumers in the South Asian country continue to spend on cooking oil as it is a basic necessity in households.

According to a Bloomberg report, “The company’s revenues have grown 27% a year on average since 2018, and it reached to Rs88bn in the fiscal year of 2022.”

“Dalda’s products account for about 5% of the cooking oil market that’s estimated to be worth about $8bn”, Jindani said. 

The listing could help Dalda capture a larger share of Pakistan’s fragmented edible oil market.

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