RIYADH, 16 July 2005 — The initial public offering of Saudi Almarai dairy and food products company was oversubscribed four times, reaching SR9.23 billion ($2.46 billion), the company said yesterday. More than 1.6 million investors bought shares, priced at SR512 ($136) each, before the 10-day IPO closed on Wednesday, Almarai Chairman Prince Sultan ibn Mohammad ibn Saud Al-Kabeer said in the statement. A total of 4.5 million shares were on offer, representing 30 percent of the company’s capital, with a value of SR2.3 billion ($613 million). A minimum of 10 shares and a ceiling of 5,000 was set per investor.
Al-Kabeer said the number of shares per subscriber would be set and excess investments returned in the coming week. The IPO was open only to Saudi citizens. Recent similar public offerings by Saudi companies have been largely oversubscribed.
