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Restaurant operator Americana Restaurants International on Wednesday announced its intention to float 30% of share capital and to list its shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) through a concurrent dual listing process.
Adeptio Investments AD Ltd. will sell 2,527,089,930 existing ordinary shares of Americana Restaurants, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants across the Middle East and North Africa said in a statement.
The offering is expected to run from November 14 2022 until November 21 for retail investors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and until November 22 for institutional investors. The offer price per share will be determined through a book building process.
Listing on both ADX and the Saudi Tadawul is expected to take place on or around December 6.
Americana is owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and an investment consortium, Adeptio, led by Dubai businessman Mohammed Alabbar, founder of Dubai-listed Emaar Properties. Americana was acquired by Adeptio in 2016, while Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund bought a 50% stake in Adeptio later that year.
Americana Restaurants’ chairman, Mohamed Alabbar said a concurrent dual listing on ADX and the Saudi Exchange marks a first-of-its-kind transaction for both markets.
"With macroeconomic and demographic tailwinds that support our accelerating growth, this is an exciting time to be inviting investors in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and internationally to share in our onward journey of success,” he added.
First Abu Dhabi Bank along with FAB Capital, Goldman Sachs Saudi Arabia, with Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia, and SNB Capital have been appointed as joint coordinators and financial advisors. HSBC Saudi Arabia and EFG Hermes UAE Limited have been appointed as joint bookrunners and underwriters.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
