Saudi Arabia’s first flour milling firm gets green light from regulator for IPO

DUBAI, March 29 (Reuters) – The Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Wednesday that it has approved First Milling Company’s application for an initial public offering (IPO) of 30% of its share capital.

The company was the first of several flour mill privatizations in Saudi Arabia, sold to the Raha AlSafi consortium for $540 million in 2020.

The consortium was led by Saudi-based Almutlaq Group and also included Al Safi, Abunayyan Holding and UAE-based Essa Al Ghurair Investment, with investment bank Canaccord Genuity acting as financial adviser, a source familiar with the matter. said at the time.

The CMA’s approval for an IPO of First Milling Company is valid for six months, the regulator said.

Middle Eastern companies raised some $21.9 billion through IPOs in 2022, representing more than half of the total in the wider EMEA region which also includes Europe and Africa , according to Dealogic data.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba Editing by Mark Potter)

((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204; https://twitter.com/YousefSaba))

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