Middle East media giant MBC sets SR23-SR25 range for IPO, book-building commences
MBC Group's IPO is one of the most anticipated GCC stock market floats
Dubai: The Saudi media and broadcasting giant MBC Group has set a range of SR23-SR25 for its IPO, with the process having kicked off with the institutional book-building period. The book-building for the IPO - one of the most anticipated in the Gulf - closes December 6.
The float will lead to 10 per cent of the company's equity coming to market, totalling 33.25 million new ordinary shares.
The total offer size will be between SR765 million ($204 million) and SR831 million ($222 million), which would imply a market cap on listing at SR7.64 billion ($2.03 billion) and SR8.31 billion ($2,21 billion).
A maximum of 3.32 million shares - itself representing 10 per cent of the total offer size - will be allocated to individual subscribers.
It was last week that MBC confirmed it's the next Saudi entity headed towards a Tadawul listing. "Through the IPO, we aim to further grow our market position and audience reach, continue investing in our popular streaming platform, Shahid, and expand into promising entertainment verticals," said Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Chairman, MBC Group, in a statement made at the time.
"While our heart remains entrenched in Arab culture, this is in line with our ambitions to continue evolving as a global media and entertainment powerhouse."
“With over 30 years of continuous growth owed to our significant investment in media, quality content generation and entertainment, we are prepared for our next phase of growth."
The current shareholders in MBC Group are Al Istedamah Holding (60 per cent) and Waleed Ibrahim Al Ibrahim.
$930m
Streaming wins
The Middle East's streaming and broadcast space saw another deal-making happen in recent days, with OSN+ lining up a merger with the music streaming platform Anghami.
MBC’s own streaming platform ‘Shahid’ recorded 3.8 million paying subscribers globally during this year’s Ramadan period. It claims a 23 per cent share of total subscribers in the MENA region in 2022.
As for its broadcasting services, MBC has 13 free-to-air TV channels. It remains the No. 1 broadcaster in Saudi Arabia, and maintained a 40 per cent audience share in the Kingdom for the last 10 years, which is ‘2.5 times more than closest competitor’.