Arabian Centres, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s leading mall operator, will offer 20 percent in the company to foreign and Saudi institutional investors in an IPO on the Tadawul. Saudi retail investors can invest in the remaining shares after the institutional investors pick theirs during the Arabian Centres public listing.
Olivier Nougarou, the CEO of Arabian Centres said the IPO could be in the range of $1 billion, according to Reuters. The offering has been approved by the Saudi markets’ regulator the Capital Markets Authority. The company will offer 95 million shares on the Tadawul. It will use the proceedings of the share offering to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.
In 2018, Arabian Centres had a revenue of $576 million. The company plans to build four more malls in the coming 12 months.
Arabian Centres operates 19 malls across 10 Saudi cities. The mall operator, which started operations in 2002, is owned by the Fawaz Alhokair Group, which is majority owned by Saudi billionaire Fawaz Alhokair. Most of the large shareholders including members of the Alhokair family will maintain their shares in the company during the first six months of its existence as a listed entity.
In a statement on the IPO, the company said, “The business model is underpinned by its category mix that comprises a full suite of lifestyle offerings ranging from food and beverage, entertainment, leisure, retail and other offerings underpinned by strategic relationships with key retailers, providing a lifestyle experience that targets a broad segment of the Saudi Arabian population.”