The company is currently owned by the Makhzoumi family, which will a retain majority stake.

The shares will be offered to private and institutional investors from the GCC and to institutional investors elsewhere.

The retail offering will run from 13 to 21 April. Shares will be priced through a book-building process, which sets the price according to the level of demand. Deutsche Bank is the global co-ordinator and bookrunner. Citigroup and Mashreqbank are the co-lead managers.

Founder and chairman of FPI, Fouad Makhzoumi says the listing would enable the firm to make substantial growth.

“Over the past three decades we have grown with Dubai and the GCC countries, serving a broad range of customers and end users," he says. "However we are now a global player with operations on four continents.”

The firm had a turnover of $556m in 2007 and although it does not report profits, it confirmed that its margins are between 10 and 20 per cent.