JEDDAH, 8 May 2005 — The Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Company (SADAFCO) has been oversubscribed during is subscription period. “The share offering has been oversubscribed by six-and-a-half times,” the National Commercial Bank (NCB), financial adviser, lead manager and sole underwriter, said in a statement.
“This IPO was a successful one and is considered to be the first of its kind, given that the entire IPO was underwritten by the NCB,” Hasan Al-Jabri, head of the NCB’s corporate banking, said. In all 267,000 applications were submitted during the subscription period, which commenced on April 25 and ended on May 4. As many as 1.04 million subscribers deposited SR3 billion at the receiving banks and over 30 percent of the applications were made through other means of distribution channels.
“We’re proud of the strong support and trust in our company demonstrated by Saudi investors and it’s a positive step forward for our new shareholders to provide them with an opportunity to share in the company’s success,” SADAFCO Managing Director Ahmed Mohammed Hamid Al-Marzouki, said.
Now that the subscription period is over, a series of procedures will be undertaken by the NCB as the lead manager, with the approval of the Capital Market Authority to finalize the allocation process that will be distributed equally among the subscribers.
