JEDDAH, 8 November 2004 — Seven million shares of the National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI), representing 70 percent of state-owned shares in the firm, will be floated for public subscription on Dec. 21, Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf announced yesterday. “We have reached an agreement with the Financial Market Authority to start NCCI’s initial public offering on Dec. 21,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Al-Assaf as saying. The shares on sale include all the shares or 50 percent of the company’s capital owned by the Public Investment Fund as well as 20 percent of the capital owned by the General Organization for Social Insurance and the Pensions Corporation. The two organizations would retain 15 percent of their stake in the company, the minister said.
