JEDDAH, 28 March 2006 — The initial public offering (IPO) of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG) will be restricted to Saudi nationals and the maximum number of stocks available for a single buyer will be 5,000 and not 10,000 as announced earlier, said the Samba Financial Group, which manages the IPO that begins on April 8 and ends on April 17.
Samba said the booklet detailing the terms and conditions of the IPO would be available in the banks dealing with the shares and in the media shortly before the beginning of the IPO.
The minimum number of shares available for a single subscriber will be 10, the bank added.
The reduction in the maximum number of shares offered to a single subscriber was due to an expected increase in the demand for shares in view of the group’s track record and status as a leading publishing organization in the region and its robust performance, said Eissa Al-Eissa, the managing director and CEO of the Samba Financial Group.
He said SRMG has a very strong presence in the market with a reputation as a full-fledged media group that has maintained its pioneering position in the Kingdom and the Middle East. “Samba is keen on employing its expertise and potential to provide an ideal environment to conduct the IPO maintaining the highest values and transparency to succeed this experiment which is considered the first IPO of a media group in the Arab world,” Al-Eissa said in a statement.