Damac to officially delist from Dubai Financial Market

Decision approved at the developer's general assembly meeting on Monday

Maple Invest, a vehicle fully owned by Damac’s founder Hussain Sajwani, submitted a notice last year for the mandatory acquisition of all its shares. Pawan Singh / The National

Dubai developer Damac Properties will officially delist from the Dubai Financial Market, it said on Monday, after the move was approved at the company's general assembly meeting.

Maple Invest, a vehicle fully owned by Damac’s founder Hussain Sajwani, submitted a notice last year for the mandatory acquisition of all its shares and to take the company private.

On Monday, the general assembly meeting approved "the conversion of the legal form of the company from a public joint stock company to a private joint stock company" and authorised the chairman of the board to sign all necessary documents, Damac said in a statement to the DFM.

Shares of Damac stopped trading on the DFM on February 15 after a notice period to take the company fully private ended and it received no objections.

Mr Sajwani, who owns 72 per cent of the Dubai company, said in June that he would buy the remaining shares of Damac for $595 million.

In October, Maple said that under the terms of the offer, Damac shareholders, excluding Maple and its associated groups, would be entitled to receive Dh1.40 ($0.38) in cash in exchange for each Damac share they hold.

The move towards privatisation comes as the developer struggles to remain profitable.

It narrowed its net loss for the 2021 financial year to Dh531m from Dh646m recorded a year earlier, it said last month.

Total revenue for the reporting period fell 37 per cent annually to Dh3 billion at the end of 2021, Damac said in a regulatory filing.