Dubizzle IPO: When can you expect dividends from your investment?

Dubai: As a growth company, Dubizzle won’t be paying dividends immediately after listing, company CEO Imran Ali Khan confirmed to Gulf News.

"We are a growth company. That’s where the focus is. It's a tech company," he said. However, he hinted at future possibilities: "In the medium term, we do envision a pretty attractive dividend policy,” without revealing specific details.

The offering will represent about 30.34 per cent of the company’s total issued share capital, including newly issued shares and existing shares sold by current shareholders, the company explained.

Major shareholders Prosus (the largest shareholder) and Affinity Partners are not selling; in fact, Prosus is investing additional capital in the offering.

The UAE business—which accounts for 89 per cent of group revenues—delivered $105 million in adjusted revenue in the first half of 2025, with adjusted EBITDA margins jumping from 31 per cent to 46 per cent year-on-year. Saudi Arabia, where Dubizzle launched 18 months ago, is expected to reach cash flow positive status “in the medium term.”

Despite ambitious expansion plans, Khan suggested a limited need for significant workforce expansion beyond the current 2,000-plus employees.

"We have already laid the foundation. We've done all the investment," he said. "There will always be some growth, but I believe we already have the workforce we need to deliver on the future plans."

The company employs over 600 engineers across three tech centres, working on a single tech stack that powers 15 out of 16 consumer platform implementations.

Khan dismissed concerns about competition from social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok entering the classifieds space.

"If you look globally, there are local champions. There is no large Google of real estate classifieds," he said. "These are high-ticket items, very important decisions. Users want that deep experience with a lot of data—market intelligence, price transactions, historical transactions."

"The network effects of a classifieds platform are very strong," Khan explained. "Once we get the sellers, the sellers give us the listings, the listings attract the buyers, and then any new seller wants to be on the same platform where the buyers are."

He noted that Dubizzle has over half a million verified users in the UAE, authenticated through government databases—a trust and safety feature that would be difficult for social platforms to replicate.

What’s next?

The IPO price range will be announced on October 23 when subscriptions open. Books close on October 29, with final pricing on October 30 and listing scheduled for November 6.