The Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Saudi Arabia's leading ICT provider whose ordinary shares are listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, announced Tuesday the successful completion of the secondary public offering. A total of 120 million shares representing 6.0% of stc's share capital were sold to local and international institutional investors and retail investors by way of a secondary public offering, the first of its kind in the Saudi capital market. The total offering size reached SR12 billion, which makes it the largest equity capital markets transaction in Saudi Arabia since the IPO of Saudi Aramco, the largest secondary follow-on transaction in EMEA in the last three years and the largest secondary follow-on transaction in CEEMEA in nearly ten years. Yazeed A. Al-Humied, PIF deputy governor, head of MENA Investments, commented: "The strong interest that this offering has generated from domestic and international investors is testament to STC's enduring strengths and exciting prospects for the future. "As its majority shareholder, we look forward to STC continuing to play a leading role in shaping the future of the Information and Communication Technology sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of the 13 strategic sectors the Fund focuses on." "This transaction is in line with PIF's strategy 2021-2025, launched by Crown Prince the chairman of the Fund, to recycle capital by selling stakes in the companies owned by the Fund, as with the secondary public offering of the Fund's shares in STC and the IPOs of ACWA Power and Saudi Tadawul Group, to reinvest the proceeds in the Kingdom's emerging sectors. "We are pleased to contribute to the development of the Saudi capital market through the elaborate and successful structuring and execution of this secondary public offering, which is the first Secondary Fully Marketed Public Offering ever in Saudi Arabia targeting international investors and the largest in the region, which demonstrates the advancement of Saudi capital markets and its regulation." Eng. Olayan M. Alwetaid, STC Group CEO commented: "We are extremely pleased to see the strong interest in the offering from domestic and international investors. I believe this is an endorsement of STC's achievements as a leading ICT provider and one of the largest telecom players in the MENA region, as well for our strategy going forward. "I have no doubt that the increase in the company's free float percentage to 29.84% will further enhance the company's international investment case and help make its shares accessible to a wider range of investors and improve trading liquidity. We welcome our new investors and look forward to sharing the company's success with them." Eng. Khalid Al-Hussan, CEO of the Saudi Tadawul Group, said: "The healthy reception of the Public Investment Fund's secondary offering highlights the maturity of the Saudi capital market, emphasizing its depth, resilience and strength in response to positive regulatory and economic policies. "The increasing complexity of the market and strong governance of Saudi Exchange, Edaa, and Muqassa, have created a welcoming environment that is able to support deals such as this. As of now, this is the largest equity capital market transaction in the Kingdom since Aramco IPO, and it bodes well for the future as we seek to capitalize on the growing momentum in the Saudi economy." — SPA
