Saudi Mall Owner Seeks $836 Million From Initial Share Sale
Saudi Retailer Seeks $836 Million From Mall Unit Share Offering
(Bloomberg) -- Fawaz Alhokair Group, the Saudi retailer that owns the franchise for brands like Banana Republic and Zara, is seeking to raise as much as 3.1 billion riyals ($836 million) from selling shares in its malls unit. It would be the country’s largest IPO since 2014.
Arabian Centres Co. set the price range of the initial public offering at 26 riyals to 33 riyals, valuing it at as much as 15.7 billion riyals. The company operates 19 shopping malls in the kingdom.
Saudi share sales slowed as the kingdom’s economy grappled with lower oil prices. Listings by companies and real-estate investment trusts raised almost $900 million last year, down from $6.7 billion in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Fawaz Alhokair is offering the shares under Regulation S and Rule 144A of the U.S. Securities Act, the first company in Saudi Arabia to do so. More than 108 million people visited Arabian Centres’ malls in the 2018 fiscal year, according to the offering prospectus.
Samba Capital, Morgan Stanley, NCB Capital and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, EFG-Hermes Holding Co., Emirates NBD Capital KSA and Natixis SA are managing the offering.
IPO details:
- The pricing range implies a market value on admission of between 12.4 billion riyals and 15.7 billion riyals
- The offering includes a total of 95 million shares, comprising 65 million existing shares to be sold by the current shareholders and 30 million new shares to be issued by the company by way of a capital increase
- The total offering size is expected to be between 2.47 billion riyals and 3.14 billion riyals
- Bidding and book-building period for institutional tranche: April 28-May 7
- Offering period for retail tranche: May 9
- Announcement of final offer shares allotment, refund of excess subscription: May 14
- Link to company statement: https://bit.ly/2DAGOU0
To contact the reporter on this story: Layan Odeh in Dubai at lodeh3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net, Shaji Mathew
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.