EFG Hermes announced today that its Investment Banking Division successfully completed advisory on a $1.8bn initial public offering (IPO) of Americana Restaurants International Plc (Americana) on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Saudi Exchange) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
This is the first-of-its-kind concurrent dual listing between the two exchanges, with the firm acting as joint bookrunner and underwriter on the listing.
Americana offered 30% of its share capital at the top of the offer price range of AED 2.62/share in the UAE and SAR 2.68/share in Saudi Arabia, implying a total market capitalisation of $6.01bn.
The transaction garnered significant interest from retail and institutional investors alike, with total orders hitting $105bn and the IPO being c.58x oversubscribed. Trading on the company’s shares commenced yesterday under the ticker ‘Americana’ on the Saudi Exchange and ‘AMR’ on the ADX.
Mohamed Fahmi — EFG Hermes’ Co-Head of Investment Banking — commented on the advisory saying: “We are incredibly proud to have played a part in this historic transaction — another milestone added to our solid regional track record of firsts in the region. With a flurry of diverse, high-quality offerings, UAE and Saudi listings in particular have managed to garner strong demand from global institutional investors this year, and our world-class sales and distribution team has been instrumental in reaching a wide investor base while simultaneously executing on several key ECM transactions. We are thrilled to not only play a role in expanding these markets, but also to support Americana in kick-starting a new chapter in its growth story by leveraging our market expertise to build a book of quality regional and global institutional investors at the time of listing.”
CEO of EFG Hermes KSA Saud Altassan also commented on the transaction saying: “We are delighted to see the completion of such a historic transaction for Saudi Arabia and to be part of yet another first-of-its-kind transaction in the region. This deal marks the first dual listing for Saudi Arabia, paving the way for other non-Saudi issuers to list on the Saudi Exchange — an exchange that has undeniably contributed to providing diverse prospects for regional and global investors alike this year. We are excited to be a part of this new chapter for Americana and to continue bringing more ground-breaking, value-accretive offerings that deepen the region’s financial markets.”
