Malabar Investments, the international investment arm of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the largest global jewellery retailer, announced that it has redomiciled the company with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the registration of its shares of international operations with Nasdaq Dubai’s Central Securities Depository (CSD) in a significant step that strengthens Malabar’s links with investors and provides the Company with a transparent, well regulated, efficient and secured solution for its share-related corporate actions.
To celebrate this development, Malabar Group’s Chairman Mr. M. P. Ahammed rang Nasdaq Dubai’s market opening bell, in the presence of His Excellency Essa Kazim, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Chairman of Dubai Financial Market (DFM); Dr. PA Ibrahim Haji, Co-Chairman of Malabar Group; Mr. Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Deputy CEO of DFM, as well as other senior representatives from both sides.
The group’s entry into the Nasdaq Dubai Private Market enables its 300+ shareholders from international operations to buy and sell shares with the approval of the Board of Directors through brokerage companies like Emirates ENBD Securities. Transfers of ownership will take place securely in Nasdaq Dubai’s Central Securities Depository (CSD), while trading will take place off-exchange as the Company remains privately held.
H.E. Essa Kazim, Governor of the DIFC and Chairman of the DFM said: “As the leading centre of excellence and international financial hub of the region, Dubai has been committed to provide various types of companies with numerous opportunities to avail benefits of capital markets and empower their growth strategies. The world-class business environment of DIFC as well as the infrastructure and regulations of Nasdaq Dubai have been a key success factor in continuously attracting numerous leading businesses from across the globe whether to set up new companies, redomicile their current activities or implement their capital market transactions.
The DIFC is the leading financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), which comprises 72 countries with an approximate population of 3 billion and a nominal GDP of US$ 7.7 trillion.
Commenting on this significant milestone in Malabar’s journey, MP Ahammed, Chairman of Malabar Group, said: “As Malabar Gold & Diamonds continues to grow internationally, it has become imminent that the holding company be based in a jurisdiction like Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) with high international standards of transparency, regulations and compliance. The Board has also recognised the requirement of having an independent regulated authority as the registrar of shares (being Nasdaq Dubai) with share transfer occurring through a more formalised and transparent process.”
From his side, Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Deputy CEO of DFM said: “We would like to thank Malabar for joining Nasdaq Dubai’s Private Market that provides businesses with the ability to start preparing themselves for further investor engagement, whether through the public markets or privately. We have developed this market to ensure that the share register is well maintained especially when the number of shareholders start increasing as new investors come on board.
Malabar Gold and Diamonds, the group’s operating business, currently generates annual turnover of US$4.51 billion through an extensive network of over 260 outlets and 14 wholesale units and 14 jewellery manufacturing centres across 10 countries in the Middle East, South Asia, Far East and USA. The company had recently announced the expansion plan to launch 56 stores with 40 in India and 16 internationally in FY21-22 with an investment of US$ 220 million which demonstrates its confidence in the growth of these markets in future.
