$3.2 Billion in Saudi Telecom sale
A glimpse of the Riyadh skyline. (Photo courtesy: Ekrem Osmanoglu)
Dubai (Reuters) – The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is set to raise 12 billion riyals ($3.2 billion) through the sale of a 6% stake in Saudi Telecom (STC) after it priced the deal in a secondary share offering.
According to one of the deal’s lead managers, PIF set the final price for the sale of 120 million shares at 100 riyals per share, at the lower end of an earlier price range of 100 riyals to 116 riyals per share.
The deal, which was marketed internationally, is the biggest equity capital market transaction in the Middle East this year, said a source.
The Saudi stock index (TASI), which is up nearly 26% this year, has seen a flurry of deals in recent months including the $1 billion IPO of bourse owner, Saudi Tadawul Group, and ACWA Power International’s $1.2 billion listing.
PIF owned 70% of Saudi Telecom before the sale.
STC is Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator. It also owns subsidiaries and has stakes in companies operating in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
PIF is the main engine of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s 2030 Vision plan to wean the economy off its dependence on oil.