DAMMAM, 7 March 2007 — The Saudi United Cooperative Insurance Company (Amity) will launch its IPO of eight million shares priced at SR10 each accounting for 40 percent of the company’s total capitalization of the SR200 million on March 17 and close on 26th, Abdullah Uthman, CEO, said in Dammam yesterday.
The founding members of the company have subscribed for the remaining 12 million shares.
“The minimum number of shares to be subscribed in the IPO is limited to 50 at the prize of SR500 and the maximum 100,000.”
“Only Saudi citizens are eligible to subscribe to the IPO, but expatriates can buy the shares at the stock market after the deals of the initial offering are over,” Abdullah Othman said.
The CEO said the company hopes that it would be able to start its operations in the second quarter of the year after the completion of the IPO and holding the meeting of the first general assembly.
He said the Amity had already signed the contract with the Financial Group to undertake the IPO procedures.
The Financial Group will also take care of the insurance company’s listing in the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, in line with the stipulations of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Othman said the board of directors of the company recently held its first meeting in Alkhobar and elected Suleiman Al-Gazi as the chairman of the board.
The board members included Abdullah Othman, Salman Al-Jashi, Wasif Al-Jabsha, Khaled Al-Rajhi, Yusuf Al-Gosaibi, Walid Al-Shoaibi, Khalifa Al-Molhem, Basem Alibarahim and Abdul Aziz Al-Rubdi.
It also decided to have its headquarters in Alkhobar with branches in all cities in the Kingdom besides branches in various Gulf countries to exploit the emerging insurance market in the region.
According to market experts, the insurance market is set to grow rapidly in the Middle East region from the current $5.1 billion to $7.1 billion over the coming four years.
A study of the Nexus Insurance Brokers based in United Arab Emirates said that the Saudi insurance sector would grow from $1.55 billion to $2.1 billion in 2010.
The company appointed the Riyadh-based Financial Group as its financial consultant and Banque Saudi Fransi as the manager of its IPO.
