TJ Maxx owner takes stake in Dubai’s Brands for Less

Brands for Less

• TJX invests $360m in BFL
• Latest unicorn in Mena
• ‘Exciting opportunity for growth’

US discount retailer TJX Companies, owner of the TJ Maxx chain, has helped create the latest unicorn in the Middle East after taking a 35 percent stake in the Dubai-based Brands for Less (BFL).

TJX agreed this week to invest $360 million in the privately held branded apparel and home fashions retailer.

Both TJX and BFL specialise in the “off-price” sector, selling well-known brands at a discount by purchasing large quantities of merchandise at low prices.

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TJ Maxx, known as TK Maxx outside the US, announced quarterly net sales of $13.47 billion for the latest quarter.

Toufic Kreidieh, executive chairman and co-founder of Brands For Less Group, said the move represented “an exciting opportunity for growth”, with plans to expand the business across the Middle East and into international markets.

The deal values BFL at $1.2 billion.

• UAE’s Brands For Less sets sights on Asia and Africa

• Brands for Less denies stake sale speculation
• Food inflation leads to rise of Gulf discount operators

Since 2016 roughly one new unicorn – defined as a startup company valued at more than $1 billion that is privately owned and not listed on a share market – has been created every year in the Middle East and North Africa, according to figures from Clear World, a Dubai tech data analytics company.

In 2023 the region added three, increasing its tally from six unicorns in 2022 to nine.

BFL, founded by Lebanese entrepreneurs Kreidieh and Yasser Beydoun, opened its first store in Beirut in 1996. Four years later it expanded the business to the UAE and moved its headquarters to Dubai.

It now has more than 100 stores, serving markets across the Middle East and south-east Asia.

TJX said on Wednesday that it expects annual earnings per share of $4.09 to $4.13, up on an earlier forecast of $4.03 to $4.09.