Saudi Arabia’s BinDawood Holding prices IPO at 96 riyals a share

Dubai: Saudi Arabian supermarket retailer BinDawood Holding has priced its initial public offering at 96 riyals ($25.59) a share, the company said on Wednesday.

The retailer, which owns the Danube and BinDawood supermarket brands, said the book-building process generated an order book of 106.9 billion riyals ($28.50 billion).

Subscriptions came from public funds, private funds and discretionary portfolios, non-Saudi investors and other investors, which include government institutions, private companies and financial institutions, it said.

“I am very pleased with the exceptionally strong demand we have witnessed for BinDawood Holding shares by institutional investors,” said CEO Ahmad Abdulrazzaq BinDawood At 96 riyals per share, BinDawood’s market capitalisation at listing is seen at 10.97 billion riyals, the statement said.

Retail investors will be able to subscribe to shares on Oct.8-12 at the final offer price, with the allotment due on Oct. 15.

BinDawood’s IPO marks another major listing for Saudi Arabia’s bourse, as companies tap into Saudi demand for shares since oil giant Aramco’s record IPO last year.

Saudi Arabia is encouraging more family-owned companies to list in a bid to deepen its capital markets under reforms aimed at reducing the kingdom’s reliance on oil revenues.

BinDawood manages more than 70 hypermarkets and supermarkets in major Saudi cities including Makkah, Medina, Jeddah, Riyadh, Khobar and Dammam, according to its website.

The BinDawood supermarket chain is focused on the middle-income customers and Muslim pilgrims in the kingdom, while the Danube chain is focused on wealthier customers.