JEDDAH, 23 April 2008 — Samba Capital topped the list of most active IPO managers in the region with its 76 percent share of total offerings in Saudi Arabia, said Eissa M. Al-Eissa, chairman of the company’s board of directors.
“A review of the total offerings in the Kingdom since 2004 reveals Samba Capital as the manager of over SR137 billion with more than 38 million subscribers,” Al-Eissa said. The IPOs were oversubscribed by an average of 10 times.
He attributed the positive results of Alinma Bank IPO, which was managed by Samba Capital, to citizens’ renewed trust in the national economy and the promising opportunities in the Saudi market backed by sound decisions and solid support of the wise leadership.
He also noted the constructive cooperation between Saudi banks and regulatory authorities including the Ministry of Finance, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and the Capital Market Authority.
“The regulatory efforts of these public institutions have helped to realize a paradigm shift in successfully implementing the Alinma offering,” he said.
Al-Eissa said Alinma IPO was instrumental in bolstering Samba Capital’s position as one of the leading managers of public offerings in the region.
“We have managed the largest IPOs in the Saudi market in terms of stock volume and number of subscribers,” the Samba chief said. “We have been eager to accomplish the process at the highest standards of transparency and flexibility and in line with the vision embraced by Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to make the offering a chance for citizens to develop their investments and contribute to major business institutions.”
Statistics have shown that Alinma IPO was the largest of its kind in the history of Saudi stock market in terms of stock volume and funds.
“With this IPO, the number of huge offerings managed Samba Capital increased to eight,” he pointed out. They include IPOs of Kingdom Holding, Mobily, Yansab and Bank Albilad.
