JEDDAH, 10 July 2007 — Samba Financial Group, the manager of the initial public offering of Saudi Printing & Packaging Company (SPPC), and other banks that participated in the five-day offering have returned a total of SR342 million to subscribers after completing share allocations, according to Eissa Al-Eissa, the CEO of Samba. A single subscriber will receive seven shares in the IPO, which saw more than 1.3 million Saudis pumping over SR540 million into SPPC shares.
BIC Attracts BD2.2bn in 2 Years
MANAMA, 10 July 2007 — Bahrain Investors’ Center (BIC), a world class one-stop-shop licensing facility for commercial registrations (CRs), in first two years of operations had attracted over BD2.2 billion investments. The start-up businesses including banks and financial institutions can get a CR within two hours, which is something very rare in this part of the world, Dr. Abdullah Mansour, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said yesterday. (Mehmood Rafique)
SICO Successfully Closes Egyptian IPO
MANAMA, 10 July 2007 — Bahrain-based Securities & Investment Company (SICO) has successfully closed the Egyptian IPO of the automotive Group, Ghabbour Auto, in which SICO acted as the sole placement agent for the offer in Bahrain. The IPO consisted of an institutional private placement offer and a public offer to retail investors. The private placement closed at a final price per share of $6.49 and seven times oversubscribed, while the public offer closed three times oversubscribed. (Walid Mazi)
IDB Approves $833.8m in Loans
JEDDAH, 10 July 2007 — The board of executive directors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) yesterday approved $833.8 million to finance development projects and trade operations and provide special assistance to member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries. The board meeting, chaired by IDB President Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, reviewed the progress of the implementation of the bank’s 2020 vision. It also approved $15.3 million to combat malaria in Sudan and Senegal. It will give $200 million to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to purchase raw materials and spare parts.