DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank plans to raise SR22.5bn ($6bn) in a flotation this month, it said, the biggest ever share sale in the Middle East.
The sale by the kingdom’s biggest lender by assets will see 300 million shares offered to Saudi individual investors and 200 million shares to the state-run Public Pension Agency at a price of SR45 per share, the bourse filing said.
Subscription for the initial public offering, the first by a bank in the kingdom since 2008, will be open between October 19 and November 2.
Currently majority-owned by the state Public Investment Fund, NCB is the only unlisted lender among Saudi Arabia’s 12 banks. It held assets worth about $101bn at the end of 2013 and made net profits of $2.1bn last year.
At the offer price, NCB to be the third largest stock on the Saudi exchange, and the second-biggest bank, by market value. Al Rajhi is the current largest listed bank, with a market capitalisation of $30.8bn.
However, the SR45 per share value is considered cheap by analysts, who note that shares in state-run companies are often sold to the public at reduced rates as a way of spreading the kingdom’s vast oil wealth. Reuters
