Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is selling a 5.01 percent stake in the country’s largest mobile operator Saudi Telecom Company (STC) in a secondary share offering that may raise to $3.1 billion (11.6 billion riyals).
PIF said in a joint statement with STC that the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund intends to sell 100.2 million shares at a price range of $26 to $30 (100 to 116 riyals) per share.
The offering is aimed at local institutional and retail investors as well as qualified foreign institutional investors. According to the statement, the number of shares allocated to retail investors is 10.02 million, representing 10 percent of the offer shares, and is subject to sufficient demand being received from retail investors.
Olayan AlWetaid Group CEO stc
“We welcome the steps taken by PIF to increase STC’s free float, which will undoubtedly further improve the trading liquidity of our shares and make them more accessible for a broader range of investors as we continue to implement a wide range of initiatives to create shareholder value. We are confident that this will also help realize our vision to be the leading digital services provider in the region and lead the growth of a diverse and digital economy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a team, we are committed to working hard to implement our ambitious strategic goals and we are hopeful that the Company’s commitment to sharing the results of our successes with shareholders – Classification: Public including through our dividend policy – combined with the increased liquidity following this Offering, will continue to attract new investors to our shares.”
The institutional tranche’s subscription period runs from December 5 to December 9. The final price of the offering will be determined on December 10.
“The PIF and STC will be restricted from disposing and issuing shares in the company for twelve and six months, respectively, after the closing date of the offering, which is expected to be on December 14,” as per the reports.
The $430 billion fund owns 70 percent of Saudi Telecom and will retain a majority stake in the company following the offering. The PIF is a key pillar of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 initiative, which intends to diversify the Arab world’s largest economy and reduce its reliance on oil.
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