Dubai property tycoon’s bet on fast food cements billionaire status

Dubai property tycoon’s bet on fast food cements billionaire status

Mohamed Alabbar is best known as the founder of a Dubai real estate firm that built the world’s tallest skyscraper, but it’s an investment in fast food that propelled him into the leagues of the region’s richest businessmen.

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Americana Restaurants, the Middle East operator of KFC and Pizza Hut, is now worth $6.24 billion — well above the $3.5 billion it was valued at when it was taken private in 2017 — after pulling off the region’s first dual listing. Investors flocked to the IPO with $105 billion of orders, and the stock surged 13 percent in Abu Dhabi on Monday before closing 7.6 percent higher.

Alabbar is set to net $900 million from Americana’s IPO and his remaining stake is now valued at $1.98 billion, based on the offer price. That makes the tycoon one of the UAE’s richest private residents with a fortune of $1.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after accounting for prior transactions including his initial purchase of Americana. There’s a chance Alabbar was a billionaire before but through assets that are opaque and hard to value.

“It’s not about the money for me.