EFG Hermes concludes advisory on Al Habib Group’s $700m IPO on Tadawul

 EFG Hermes, the  financial services corporation in Frontier Emerging Markets (FEM),  on Monday said  its investment banking team has successfully completed advisory on Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group’s SAR 2.63 billion (USD 700 million) IPO on Tadawul, with EFG Hermes acting as joint bookrunner on the deal.

The private healthcare operator, one of the largest in Saudi Arabia, has operations across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.

The group currently owns and operates seven healthcare facilities (six of which are in KSA and one in UAE) and 13 pharmacies (12 of which are in KSA and one in UAE), while operating and managing another seven healthcare centers (six of which are in KSA and one in Bahrain) and provides a range of medical and technical services (mainly for third parties).

Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group began trading on Tuesday, March 17th under the Bloomberg stock symbol “SULAIMAN AB Equity”.

The transaction saw the group offer 52.5 million shares (representing 15 per cent of its share capital) to investors at SAR 50.00 per share.

Co-CEO of the Investment Bank at EFG Hermes, Mohamed Ebied, said:  “Taking Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group to market book ends a series of successful deals we have managed to execute in Saudi Arabia, and is further proof that our strategy to ramp up our operations in KSA is bearing fruit,”

“In light of the current global equity market conditions, the successful close of this transaction and the stock’s strong performance on the first day of trading (up 10 per cent), underscore both the strong fundamentals of Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group, and our ability to attract global capital and funnel it into local investment opportunities through unmatched book-building and advisory services.”

He further said: “In the last 12 months alone, EFG Hermes has advised on a series of landmark equity transactions in the GCC such as the IPOs of ACC, Finablr, and Aramco.

Expanding both our advisory services and execution capabilities in KSA has allowed us to capitalize on the market’s continued momentum following the Kingdom’s upgrade to emerging market status on both the FTSE and MSCI indices.

“At the end of 2019, following EFG Hermes’ advisory role on the Aramco IPO, the Firm became the 28th largest ECM advisor in the world and 20th largest when considering EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) alone. The transaction also saw the Group further solidify its position as the top ECM adviser in the MENA region”.

, Co-Head of Investment Banking at EFG Hermes, Mohamed Fahmi, commented:  “Despite bearish sentiment the world over in response to the impact that the recent COVID-19 outbreak has had on global markets’ growth, we remain confident that the strong fundamentals that underpin Saudi Arabia AND FEM markets in general will continue to drive economic growth across the region.

“Investors will continue to peg defensive sectors such as healthcare and consumer goods as overweight, and Saudi Arabia’s commitment to implementing wide-ranging reforms is likely to support a healthy pickup in non-oil economic activity. Given our strengthened presence in the country, we are ideally positioned to capture a significant share of rising transaction volumes expected for the coming period.”

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