In the first-ever dual-listing in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, Americana Foods attracted orders worth $105 billion for its initial public offering (IPO), exceeding its $1.8 billion target by 58 times.
The company sold more than 2.52 billion shares, or 30 percent stake of its issued share capital, with the IPO drawing strong demand from institutional and retail investors.
The price range was set at the higher end of 2.62 dirhams in the UAE and 2.68 Saudi riyals ($0.71) a share, implying an equity value for the group of $6.01 billion.
Due to high demand, the firm last week doubled the size of its UAE retail tranche in its IPO to 10 percent.
Read more: Americana’s retail offering doubled due to strong demand
10 percent of its total offering in Saudi Arabia was allocated to the retail sector. The institutional investors’ tranche was cut from 85 percent of the total offering to 80 percnet.
Americana will be dual-listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in the United Arab Emirates and the Tadawul exchange in Saudi Arabia.
On or about December 6, shares are anticipated to go on the market.
The first company to be dually listed in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Americana is the largest IPO in Saudi Arabia this year.
In contrast to the global markets, where investor sentiment has been muted due to rising recession fears and skyrocketing inflation, the MENA region has experienced strong IPO activity in both 2021 and this year.
In the first half of this year, there were 24 IPOs in the region. According to EY data, Saudi Arabia led in terms of volume with five IPO deals in the first half of the year while the UAE was the largest IPO market in terms of total deal value.
