JEDDAH, 3 July 2007 — The initial public offering of the Saudi Printing & Packaging Company (SPPC) has received unprecedented response from Saudi investors as the 5.4 million shares offered by the company to individual investors were oversubscribed on the second day of the IPO.
“More than 369,000 subscribers invested SR163 million by the second day, thus covering 137 percent of the shares (5.4 million) offered to individuals,” said Eissa Al-Eissa, the CEO of Samba Financial Group, manager of the IPO, which was launched on Saturday.
The company offers 18 million shares worth SR396 million in the five-day IPO, the first by a printing company in the Middle East. Prospective investors can buy a minimum of 10 shares and a maximum of 100,000 shares at the rate of SR22 per share.
Al-Eissa attributed the tremendous response of investors to the IPO to their confidence in the company and about its brighter future. “We have taken all measures for the success of the IPO and meet the requirements of the growing number of subscribers,” he said.
If the number of individual subscribers crosses 540,000, Samba, being the manager of the IPO, would have the right to increase the allocation of shares for them from 30 to 50 percent with the permission of the Capital Market Authority, he said.
Al-Eissa said that 96 percent of subscribers used electronic means such as the Internet, tele-banking and ATMs to complete subscription procedures. “The IPO concludes at the end of the working hours of Wednesday,” he added.