Saudi property developer prices IPO at top of range

SAUDI Arabia property developer Retal Urban Development said on Sunday (June 5) that it had priced its initial public offering at 120 riyals a share, the top of the indicated range, implying a market capitalisation of 4.8 billion riyals (S$1.76 billion).

The book-building process generated orders of 90.3 billion riyals, in a sign of strong momentum for Saudi Arabia’s IPO market that has defied the global trend.

The company will raise 1.44 billion riyals in the IPO, selling 30 per cent of existing shares.

Gulf issuers have raised US$8.76 billion from IPOs so far this year, Refinitiv data showed last month, exceeding European flotations even as global markets remain volatile in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine.

“The robust demand for Retal’s shares reflects the attractiveness of our scalable business model and highlights the investor appetite for next generation real estate development companies such as ours,” said Abdullah bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Braikan, CEO of Retal Development Co.

The Saudi government has launched several initiatives to increase homeownership within the kingdom and has also embarked on a major investment drive to develop infrastructure projects such as the US$500 billion NEOM economic zone.