Dubai: MBC Group got orders worth SR1.5 billion ($399.9 million) from retail investors for its IPO shares, the Saudi media and entertainment giant announced on Thursday, as it completed the retail portion of its IPO subscription process. The firm achieved a subscription coverage of 17.6 times, it added.
The retail investor offering for the IPO took place from December 14 to December 18, allocating 3.3 million shares, which represents 10 per cent of the total stake offered to them. As many as 359,464 retail investors placed orders, MBC Group noted.
The company said in a statement that it allocated at least nine shares to each retail subscriber, with the remaining shares expected to be issued on a pro-rata basis, depending on demand size relative to the remaining demand. This averages at 0.2 per cent of what was allocated.
Top-end pricing
A week earlier, MBC Group had set the final offer price for its IPO at SR25 ($6.67) per share, at the top end of the marketed range, following robust demand from institutional investors, which resulted in an order book totaling SR 54.5 billion ($14.5 billion). MBC witnessed a subscription demand 66 times the total offered shares during the book-building process.
The final offer price positioned MBC's market capitalisation at SR8.3 billion ($2.2 billion) upon listing on the Saudi Exchange's main market. The IPO, with a price range of SR23 to SR25 ($6.13 to $6.67) per share, will sell 33.25 million shares, equivalent to 10 per cent of the company's share capital.
HSBC Saudi Arabia, JP Morgan Saudi Arabia and SNB Capital served as Joint Financial Advisors, Joint Bookrunners, and Underwriters to MBC Group.
