The Arm IPO just got significantly smaller: Arm is looking to fetch almost USD 5 bn in its upcoming IPO, a share sale which would value the UK-based chip designer at as much as USD 52 bn. The company plans to price its shares at USD 47-51, it said in an SEC filing yesterday on the same day it kicked off its roadshow. This is significantly lower than the USD 8-10 bn initially targeted by the company.

Having said that: Pricing at the lower end of the range would still make it the largest globally IPO this year, exceeding the USD 4.37 bn listing of Johnson & Johnson’s Kenvue.

Cornerstone investors are a who’s who of Western tech giants: Google, Apple, Nvidia, Samsung, Intel and TSMC are among the cornerstone investors for the offering, and have shown interest in purchasing USD 735 mn of shares. Bloomberg, the Financial Times and Reuters all have the story.

MEANWHILE- It’s IPO time in Muscat: The pipelines unit of Oman’s state energy company OQ Gas Networks announced (pdf) yesterday its intention to float nearly half of its shares on the Muscat Stock Exchange in October with subscription set to begin this month for retail and institutional investors. The transaction is expected to raise up to USD 800 mn, Reuters reports, citing an unnamed source it says has knowledge of the matter. This would make it the Sultanate’s biggest IPO in almost two decades, according to the newswire.

Advisors: Our friends at EFG UAE are acting as joint global coordinators along with Bank Muscat and BofA Securities. Bank Muscat is the issue manager.

Round 2 for OQ: OQ took nearly half of its oil drilling business to market in a transaction that raised USD 244 mn in March as part of a plan by the Oman wealth fund to exit some of its assets.

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

  • Country Garden avoids default: China’s largest real estate developer has paid its interest payments in USD bonds, avoiding default for the second time in a few days and easing the crisis in the country’s embattled property sector. (Reuters)
  • World Bank considers doubling investment in Turkey: The World Bank is in advanced talks to increase its investment in Turkey to USD 35 bn. (Bloomberg)

EGX30

19,044

+0.7% (YTD: +30.5%)

USD ( CBE)

Buy 30.83

Sell 30.96

USD at CIB

Buy 30.85

Sell 30.95

Interest rates CBE

19.25% deposit

20.25% lending

Tadawul

11,411

-0.2% (YTD: +8.9%)

ADX

9,656

-0.9% (YTD: -5.4%)

DFM

4,053

-0.4% (YTD: +21.5%)

S&P 500

4,497

-0.4% (YTD: +17.1%)

FTSE 100

7,438

-0.2% (YTD: -0.2%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,269

-0.3% (YTD: +12.5%)

Brent crude

USD 89.99

+1.1%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.59

-6.5%

Gold

USD 1,951.10

-0.8%

BTC

USD 25,695

-0.4% (YTD: +55.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.7% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.23 bn (5.7% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 30.5% YTD.

In the green: Eastern Company (+7.3%), Qalaa Holdings (+3.1%) and Mopco (+2.3%).

In the red: Alexandria Containers and Cargo Handling (-4.4%), Orascom Development Egypt (-2.2%) and Beltone Financial Holding (-2.2 %).

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