The National Commercial Bank (NCB) financial adviser, lead manager, and sole underwriter of the initial public offer (IPO) of the Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Company (SADAFCO) has announced that the share offering has been oversubscribed 6.5 times, Saudi Gazette reported today. Head of corporate banking at NCB, Hasan Al-Jabri, said this IPO was a successful one and is considered to be the first of its kind, given that the entire IPO was underwritten by NCB. It received 267,000 applications submitted during the subscription period, which commenced on April 25 and ended on May 4, 2005. Some 1.04 million subscribers deposited SR3 billion at the receiving banks and over 30 percent of the applications were made through other means of distribution channels, i.e., Internet and telephone banking, which helped in leveraging the effectiveness and speed of the IPO SADAFCO managing director Ahmed Mohammed Hamid Al Marzouki said we are proud of the strong support and trust in our company demonstrated by the Saudi investors and it is a positive step forward for our new shareholders to provide them with an opportunity to share in the company's success. Now that the subscription period is over, a series of procedures will be undertaken by NCB as the lead manager and the receiving banks with the approval of the Capital Market Authority to finalize the allocation process which will be distributed equally between the subscribers. Excess funds will start on May 9.
