RIYADH, 3 July 2005 — The Saudi British Bank (SABB) has offered its customers the chance to subscribe through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) for Almarai shares in the forthcoming IPO which begins July 4.

The new service will be available on all SABB ATM machines throughout the Kingdom 24 hours a day. The bank will also provide Phone Banking and ATM subscription channels in addition to the traditional methods of subscription. Electronic pre-registration forms are also available through www.Ektetab.com, which were introduced for the NCCI IPO.

“This is the first time customers will be able to use ATMs for share subscriptions in an effort to better serve our customers and reduce long queues in our branches,” Geoff Calvert, SABB managing director said, adding that those holding a SABB ATM card and who had subscribed to previous IPOs through SABB will be able to use this new service.

Almarai has appointed Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) as financial adviser and SABB the lead manager and lead underwriter to the Almarai IPO.

Ioannis Karapatakis, director and head of Investment Banking Advisory, HSBC said that Almarai IPO offering is valued at SR2.3 billion, of which 50 percent will be underwritten by SABB and the balance allocated equally with four other banks acting as receiving banks and co-underwriters to the transaction.

The other institutions which would issue 12.5 percent each of the total 4,500,000 shares include: Samba Financial Group; Riyad Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi and Arab National Bank.

“The Almarai IPO is a landmark transaction, which should pave the way for more limited liability companies to go to the market under Capital Markets Authority (CMA) listing rules,” Karapatakis said.

HSBC and SABB are in the process of setting up an investment-banking vehicle offering a wide range of investment banking solutions in Saudi Arabia.”

In recognition of their achievements and contribution to the development of the equity capital market in Saudi Arabia, Euromoney awarded HSBC and SABB “The Best Equities House in Saudi Arabia” award of excellence for the year 2005,” he added.