Shares of Riyadh Cables Group, which offered 22% of its share capital to the investing public through an initial public offering (IPO) for $11.43 (SAR 43) apiece, started trading on the Saudi bourse Monday at $11.11 (SAR 41.80), down by 2.8%.
Riyadh Cables has raised about $278 million (SAR 1.4 billion) by offering 33 million shares to the public, EFG Hermes, which acted as a joint book runner on the transaction, said in a statement.
The transaction was 72 times oversubscribed, thanks to heavy demand from regional and global investors, EFG said. Riyadh Cables Group Company's listing indicates a total market capitalization of up to $1.7 billion (SAR 6.5 billion), EFG said.
In October, Saudi's Capital Market Authority (CMA) approved Riyadh Cables Group’s application to register for the listing, according to a statement released by the Saudi stock exchange then.
Riyadh Cables, which was founded in 1984 and majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Al Zaim family, has plants in the kingdom, the UAE, and Iraq. It had initially planned a domestic IPO in 2015 when the country opened its stock market to international investors.
In Saudi Arabia, the Egypt-based investment company has recently advised on Americana’s $1.8 billion dual listing on the Abu Dhabi and the Saudi bourses — the first IPO to take place between both exchanges simultaneously.
It was also a joint bookrunner on the $144 million IPO of Saudi Arabia’s water desalination company Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies and the $138 million share offering of the Saudi-based car rental company Theeb Rent a Car and ACWA Power’s $1.2 billion listing.
Regionally, EFG Hermes advised on the $204 million IPO of Dubai-based education platform Taaleem — the first private sector IPO on the DFM since 2014.
EFG Hermes advised on 10 IPOs in nine different industries across six exchanges worth $12.8 billion (SAR 1.95 billion), it said.
