Legal Advisors and Baker McKenzie act for the underwriters on Saudi Tadawul Group's landmark IPO

Riyadh/ London : Legal advisors, Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners alongside Baker McKenzie, London, have acted for the underwriters on Saudi Tadawul Group Holding’s US$ 1.0 billion initial public offering and $3.4 billion listing on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). The syndicate comprised Citigroup, JP Morgan and SNB Capital as joint global coordinators, financial advisors, bookrunners and underwriters. The offering comprised the sale of 36 million shares or 30% of the issued share capital of the company, with trading in its shares commencing on 8 December 2021.

Saudi Tadawul Group Holding comprises four wholly-owned subsidiaries including Saudi Exchange Co. (Tadawul), Securities Depository Center (Edaa), Securities Clearing Center (Muqassa) and Wamid in addition to a stake in a real estate company. With this IPO, the Saudi Tadawul Group is the third publicly traded regional stock exchange after the Dubai Financial Market and Boursa Kuwait. The IPO, which was priced at the top end of the price range of US$ 27.9 (SAR 105), is also the largest offering in the exchanges sector since 2014.

Leading on the transaction, Karim Nassar and Abdulrahman Alajlan stated: “We have been privileged to work with our clients on this significant deal of Saudi Tadawul Group. This matter was particularly interesting given the continued progression and prominence of Tadawul in the international capital markets. We are very pleased to once again support on a landmark IPO transaction following the recent successful IPO of ACWA Power and similarly, we look forward to bringing more capital markets’ deals to a successful close.”

The IPO was oversubscribed and received great interest among institutional investors in Saudi and internationally, and the general public in the Kingdom making

it the most successful offerings in the exchanges sector for years. Nadine Nassar concluded, “With the enormous potential that the Saudi IPO market currently presents, we are delighted to have had the opportunity to act for our clients on this noteworthy offering. It is a manifestation of the depth and breadth of our capacity and capability, involving our capital markets and financial services regulatory teams in various overseas offices. We hope this offering encourages more private and family-owned listings in the Kingdom to further flourish its capital market.”

The cross-border team was led by Karim Nassar and Nadine Nassar (Legal Advisors, Riyadh) and Adam Farlow and George Marshall (Partners, Baker McKenzie, London). Further support was provided by Mollie Brown (Associate) of Baker McKenzie, London, and Reema AlSalem (Trainee Associate) of Legal Advisors, Riyadh.

This deal adds to the long list of transactions on which Legal Advisors and Baker McKenzie have advised on in Saudi Arabia, including the latest example of international capital markets transaction advising the syndicate of 11 underwriting banks on ACWA Power’s US$ 1.2 billion IPO. In addition, in 2020, the Firm advised Saudi Arabian supermarket giant BinDawood Holding Company on its US$ 585 million IPO, which represented a significant retail success story during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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© Press Release 2021