RIYADH, 9 November 2006 — HSBC Saudi Arabia Ltd., the financial adviser and lead manager for Al-Babtain Power & Telecommunication Company initial public offering (IPO) shared the details of subscriptions in the first four days of the offering.
The 10-day IPO, which opened on Saturday, is covered 146 percent. At the end of its fourth day Tuesday, more than one million subscribers opted for Al-Babtain shares. A total of SR474 million has been collected within the first four days of the IPO. Besides, more than 75 percent of the proceed injected to date has come through direct channels including ATMs, phone banking and Internet banking.
Ioannis Karapatakis, MD, Global Investment Banking Advisory, HSBC Saudi Arabia Ltd. said: “The strong response to Al-Babtain IPO is good news for one and all. It’s great news for Al-Babtain, very encouraging news for the market and certainly the best news for investors. It shows that the recent unpredictable behavior of the market has not affected primary investor’s sentiments and good companies continue to attract investments.”
Mohammad Al-Babtain, chairman, Al-Babtain Power & Telecommunication Company, said: “I’m very thankful to Saudi citizens for showing their faith in Al-Babtain and we’re overwhelmed by the response. This is a triumph for the power and telecom sector and a vote of confidence in the Saudi economy.”
The issued share capital of Al-Babtain Power & Telecommunication Company is SR270 million ($72 million) consisting of 27 million shares. The IPO comprises 8.1 million shares representing 30 percent of its share capital.