Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has completed the sale of a 10% stake in Saudi Tadawul Group through a secondary share offering, raising $611.7 million (SAR 2.3 billion), the fund said in a statement on Sunday.
The sovereign wealth fund said it sold 12 million shares through an accelerated bookbuild offering.
The PIF now holds 72 million shares or 60% of the Saudi stock exchange operator and owner, the statement showed. The fund will be subject to a 90-day lockup.
HSBC Holdings and Morgan Stanley were joint global coordinators for the Tadawul sale.
In December 2021, the PIF sold a 30% stake in Tadawul in a $1 billion initial public offering and the bourse operator’s shares have since doubled.
Saudi Tadawul reported a 23.1% year-on-year drop in profit to $97.8 million (SAR 367.4 million) in the first nine months of 2022, due to lower revenues and higher expenses. In the third quarter of 2022, net profit also went down 22.66% year-on-year to $23.7 million (SAR 89.1 million).
The fund sold in mid-December a 6% stake in Saudi Telecom (STC) in a secondary public offering for $3.2 billion (SAR 12 billion).
Crucial quote "This transaction is in line with PIF’s strategy to recycle the fund’s capital and invest in emerging and promising sectors in the local economy," said Eyas AlDossari, PIF's head of investment advisory in the Middle East and North Africa Investments Division. It "also contributes to increasing the company’s free float, enhancing the liquidity of the market for both local and international investors and is expected to contribute to the value creation for the company’s shareholders and for the Saudi market as a whole," he added.
