Al Hokair sinks its teeth into Turkish simit maker
Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair Group has bought a 10 per cent stake in a Turkish chain specialising in the bagel-like bread product known as simit, building on three years of cooperation between the companies.
The Riyadh-based retailer will help privately-held Simit Sarayi, whose current locations include City Walk in Dubai, open more than 250 shops in the Middle East and North Africa by 2021, bringing the total number of regional outlets to more than 300, the companies said in a joint statement yesterday .
Al Hokair has a master-franchise agreement with Simit Sarayi, which currently operates 408 shops in 21 countries, including Turkey. Senior group vice president Abdul Majeed Alhokair will become a member of Simit Sarayi’s board of directors after the acquisition, according to the statement.
The retailer, primarily known for its fashion businesses, is due to report earnings for the second quarter of the year next week.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predict that the company will post a rise of about 24 per cent rise in quarterly profits, in line with similar rises across the retail sector.
Al Rajhi Capital said in a note earlier this month that companies in consumer-related sectors would report positive results for the second quarter owing to consumer spending around the month of Ramadan and the reinstatement of civil servant allowances.