RIYADH: Saudi Almunajem Foods Co. appointed HSBC Saudi Arabia as a financial advisor, bookrunner, lead manager, and underwriter for its potential initial public offering of 30 percent of its shares, or 18 million, on Saudi stock exchange Tadawul, it said today in a filing.
Almunajem Foods, which specializes in the import, marketing, and distribution of frozen, chilled, and dried food, announced on November 7 the completion of its expansion of a factory in Jeddah, in response to the growth of demand for meat and poultry in Saudi Arabia.
Almunajem imports more than 250,000 metric ton per year of food from over 60 international well-known food producers, it said.
The company is laying down three main pillars of growth to enhance profits and revenues, the CEO of the AlMunajim food company said in an interview with Alarabiya.
The first pillar is to expand the range of new products, the second is to improve sales channels and enhance the company's presence in the food sector in Saudi Arabia and the third pillar includes the integration of products by exploring new opportunities.
Thamer Abanumai indicated that the company hoped that by offering its shares in the Saudi market it would institutionalize the company, enhance its value and its brands, and diversify sources of funding for future growth and expansion.
He explained that the food sector in the Kingdom is burgeoning, with the pace of growth expected to increase due to economic diversification and incentives by the government with the support of initiatives such as the Quality of Life Initiative, promoting tourism, Hajj and Umrah programs, and localizing jobs.
He expected the company's business to continue to grow in the coming years by 4.6 percent to reach a value of SR272 billion ($72.5 billion) in 2024.
The company currently has a sales value of SR2.5 billion ($666 million) annually, he added.
“We acted quickly and expanded our meat factory in Jeddah. The strong, long-term fundamentals in place in local food consumption are expected to outstrip demand, and our expansion will help fill some of that shortfall.” CEO of Almunajem, Thamer Bin Abdulaziz Abanumay said in a statement on November 7.
