Saudi Stock Exchange CEO Sees Further Blitz of IPOs

Saudi Arabia has more than ten companies waiting to pursue initial public offerings on its stock exchange, while upwards of 50 firms have applied for listings, in a sign that the frenzy of IPO activity in the kingdom is set to continue.

“We have more than ten IPOs approved but waiting for book building and dealing with the asset managers to determine listing and offering dates,” Mohammed Al-Rumaih, chief executive officer of Tadawul stock exchange, said in an interview.

“And the good thing about those IPOs is not just the number but the diversity,” he said. “So they are from different sectors, different sizes in different stage in their life cycle.”

The comments come fresh off a burst of IPO activity for Saudi Arabia, with four companies having announced offerings in recent weeks. They include hospital group Dr. Soliman Abdul Kader Fakeeh Hospital, which will be the kingdom’s biggest IPO of 2024.

That offering sold out in less than an hour and seeks to raise as much 2.86 billion riyals ($763.4 million) — more than all of the year’s combined listings to date. Water treatment business Miahona’s offer also drew strong demand, and the deal was priced at the top of an initial range Thursday.

Read More: Fresh Burst of Saudi IPOs Taps Eager Investor Demand

Almost $700 million has been raised through Saudi IPOs so far this year, with the largest share sale so far being the $314 million listing of Modern Mills Co. in March. That represents a large increase from a year ago, when listings ground to a halt amid a decline in Saudi Arabia’s stock market. The Tadawul index is up 4% year to date.

Al-Rumaih, who spoke with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the Hong Kong edition of Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Forum, expressed no concern over liquidity needed to absorb all of the expected listings.

When asked about the potential for Saudi Arabian companies to cross list in Hong Kong, or vice versa, he said “we want to have a path ready for them in case they decide to do so.”

The Saudi Tadawul Group and Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. are co-organizing a conference Thursday as both seek to boost their status as financial hubs. Saudi Arabia is also seeking more foreign ownership in its stock market as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman works to diversify the kingdom’s economy under his Vision 2030 program.

The bourses are also working on an ETF in Riyadh that tracks Hong Kong’s stock indexes. An ETF that tracks Saudi Arabian shares is already listed in Hong Kong and CSOP Asset Management Ltd., which manages that fund, aims to cross list it to Shanghai in the second half of the year.

“The friendship and partnership between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia will go very far and will endure the test of time,” said Michael Wong, Hong Kong’s deputy financial secretary.