DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is still expected to chalk up the region’s biggest ever listing when National Commercial Bank’s SR22.5bn ($6bn) offering closes on Sunday, bucking a broader market slowdown.
The initial public offering, the second-biggest globally this year after the $25bn flotation of Alibaba Group , is happening at a time when listings in other parts of the world have been halted due to market volatility caused by concerns over the strength of global economic growth.
After Wednesday, the 11th day of the offer period which began on October 19, the retail part of the IPO was 50.3 percent covered by around 757,000 investors, arranging banks said.
But subscriptions should pick up in the final days of the offer, due to close on Sunday, as Saudis are usually reluctant to commit their capital early in the period, analysts said.
NCB is offering 300 million shares to Saudi individuals and 200 million shares to the state-run Public Pension Agency, equivalent to a 15 percent and 10 percent stake respectively. The price of shares, SR45 each, is also a considerable discount to their true value, analysts said, with a price to book value of 2.0 times, below the sector average of 2.2 times.
Reuters
