Dubai’s Marka makes UK football acquisition, sets goal to reach profitability

Marka picked up a 65 per cent stake in Icons, a football memorabilia firm, for Dh15.3m. Alex Caparros / Getty Images

Dubai’s Marka, a retail and restaurant start-up that listed on the emirate’s bourse last year, expects to turn profitable in 2016, a company official said, pushing back the timeline given earlier.

In January, Marka said it expected to turn profitable in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“The company has to consolidate the acquisitions,” said the managing director Khaled Almheri, explaining why the profitability expectation was delayed. The company has been boosting its revenue with new acquisitions.

Yesterday, it announced the completion of its first international investment: a 65 per cent acquisition in Icons, a football memorabilia company, for Dh15.3 million.

In December, Marka said it had agreed to buy the sporting goods company Retailcorp from Istithmar World, a unit of the state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, for Dh220m.

It has also bought stakes in a restaurant chain and entertainment centres in Dubai.

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