UAE conglomerate invests Dh2 billion in expansion
The company which owns a series of global brands, has already invested Dh1.3 billion
Dubai:
Dubai-based Western International Group is investing Dh2 billion in expansion over in the next three years, a top official told Gulf News.
The company, which has 6,000 professionals on payroll, will employ another 6,000 more to manage the new outlets.
“Putting it quantitatively, we have already invested about Dh1.3 billion across initiatives in the retail and consumer businesses wherein approximately Dh1 billion has been in the retail expansion and the rest in the consumer business initiatives,” said K.P. Basheer, Chairman of Western International Group.
Western International, which was established 25 years ago in Bahrain, owns a number of brands including its hypermarket chain — Nesto.
Nesto was established in 2004. Its products are currently re-exported to 80 countries. The company later moved its headquarters to Dubai where it witnessed its biggest expansion.
The company currently operates 29 Nesto supermarkets and hypermarkets. It will open a multi-level hypermarket in Sharjah next week with an investment of Dh200 million.
“This will be our biggest retail project. We have constructed the whole facility,” Basheer said. “We are planning to open similar hypermarkets in the GCC, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where our retail presence is low. Our retail expansion outlay for Nesto for the next three years is approximately Dh2 billion.
“Our vision in retail is to be a sizeable player in the region and we are aiming to have a 100 store presence in next five years. These stores will have a mix of hypermarkets and supermarkets.”
As part of the plan, the company expects to open 20 more stores in next three years and that will take its presence to 50 stores in the region by year 2015.
