JEDDAH, 3 August 2006 — The 10-day initial public offering (IPO) of the Emaar Economic City (EEC), which was oversubscribed since the third day of subscription, closed yesterday with record number of subscribers applying for shares.
As at the end of the ninth day of subscription, over 2.5 million applications were received from over 9.2 million subscribers, with the amount subscribed reaching over SR6.7 billion.
“We thank the Saudi investors for their tremendous response to the IPO and the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) and our banking partners for their support,” said Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman, EEC. “The overwhelming appreciation for EEC shares is a true indication of emerging investor appetite and trust in the King Abdullah Economic City project (KAEC), which will be financed through the net proceeds of the IPO. KAEC is a truly landmark development that will usher in a new era of prosperity for the Kingdom.”
“The highly encouraging response to the EEC IPO underscores the positive investment climate of the Kingdom and the importance of the KAEC project as a development that will bring in all-round growth,” said Nidal Jamjoom, chief executive officer, EEC. “We are thankful to the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia; to HSBC and SABB, the exclusive financial adviser, lead manager and lead underwriter to the IPO; and to Riyad Bank and the National Commercial Bank (NCB), the sub-underwriters. We also thank the 11 receiving banks that have played an active role in reaching out to Saudi investors across the vast Kingdom using innovative means.”
