RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank said the retail portion of its SR22.5 billion ($6 billion) initial share sale had attracted investor interest amounting to more than double the amount on offer.

By the end of the day on Thursday, around 857,000 investors pledged to buy shares totaling 210 percent of the 300 million shares available to individual investors, the bank said in a statement.

The Kingdom’s largest bank by assets is selling 15 percent of its stock, priced at 45 riyals per share, to local investors between Oct. 19 and Nov. 2 and is placing a further 10 percent with the state-run Private Pension Agency.

The offering is the largest ever in the Gulf region and the second-biggest globally this year after Alibaba Group and comes at a time when many flotations around the world are being halted by market volatility.