GIB Capital LLC, the Saudi-based investment banking arm of Gulf International Bank (GIB), was recently granted three awards by EMEA Finance magazine for their role in key transactions in 2014.

GIB Capital won the Best IPO Deal in the Middle East award for acting as co-financial adviser and joint lead manager for National Commercial Bank’s $6 billion initial public offering (IPO), claimed to be the second largest IPO globally in 2014 and the largest IPO ever in the Middle East.

GIB Capital also won the Best Sovereign Bond award in the Middle East for its role as bookrunner and lead manager on the $1.25 billion 30-year bond issued by Bahrain, as well as the Best Merger and Acquisition Deal for advising the shareholders of Saudi Arabia’s General Lighting Company on the sale of a 51 percent stake to Royal Philips. These awards follow the Best Local Investment Bank in Bahrain award that GIB Capital won for 2014.

Abdullah Al-Zamil, chairman of GIB Capital, said: “Initiating a public offering is a milestone in the lifecycle of a company as it adds a new layer of responsibility through public investors and as such opens the company up to ongoing scrutiny and significantly enhanced governance standards. The GIB Capital team strives to help clients through the public offering process in line with best international practices.”

Khalid Al-Ghamdi, acting CEO of GIB Capital, said: “GIB Capital has a unique insight into the process of taking clients through IPOs after managing public offerings of more than $12 billion across a multitude of sectors in different regulatory jurisdictions within the GCC.”

The EMEA Finance magazine specializes in covering financial and banking developments in Europe and the Middle East.

GIB is owned by the six GC countries. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owns 97.2 percent of GIB.