DUBAI, April 24 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabian water and waste water infrastructure company Miahona plans to offer a 30% stake in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Riyadh bourse, it said on Wednesday.
Miahona is fully owned by development and investment holding company Vision Invest and says it has operations covering the whole water sector cycle from extraction and supply to collection and recycling.
The firm’s decision to list adds to an IPO boom in Gulf markets over the last two years driven by high oil prices and foreign institutional investor interest, bucking a global dealmaking slump caused in part by high interest rates.
The public-private partnership (PPP) intends to offering 48,277,663 ordinary shares currently held by Vision Invest, Miahona said in a stock exchange filing.
The bookbuilding process is expected to run from April 28 to May 2, after which the final offer price will be set. Saudi Fransi Capital is lead manager and joint financial adviser, joint bookrunner and co-underwriter along with EFG Hermes Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Companies based in the Gulf Cooperation Council raised $11 billion in IPO proceeds in 2023, down 45% from 2022. These IPOs accounted for 40% of the proceeds raised in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region during 2023, 56% lower from a year earlier, LSEG data showed.
“Private sector participation in the water and wastewater sector is one of the main pillars of economic transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” CEO Awaadh Al Otaibi was quoted as saying in the statement, adding the firm “has succeeded in achieving remarkable growth” over the past years.
The Riyadh-based firm posted a revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3% between 2021 and 2023, while its core profit margin grew to 43.8% from 36.9% along the same time.
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Reporting by Rachna Uppal and Federico Maccioni
Editing by David Goodman and Miral Fahmy
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