EFG Holding eyes Saudi expansion as more businesses go public: EFG Holding plans to increase its staff in Saudi Arabia by 30% to 47 people as its investment bank arm, EFG Hermes, gears up to be involved in as many as six IPOs in the kingdom this year, the company’s CEO Karim Awad told Bloomberg. “We have big plans for hopefully increasing our market share, either at brokerage or investment banking.”

The Saudi appeal: The kingdom boasts a diverse range of industries in addition to strongliquidity and investor base, Awad said.

Remember: In the cards in KSA this year is a USD 20 bn secondary sale in Aramco, whoseIPO saw EFG Hermes act as a bookrunner back in 2019. The Public Investment Fund is also mulling more equity offerings in its portfolio companies, Bloomberg reported last month.

What does EFG Hermes have in store outside KSA? The investment bank has three to four IPO transactions pending in the UAE, one in Kuwait, and up to two in Egypt, Bloomberg says. Awad said that the bank also plans to continue upping its headcount in the UAE — its biggest overseas office — where currently a team of 130 employees is based.

On home soil: Egypt has “turned an important corner” in light of recent FX inflows and the float of the EGP, but to revive its IPO market, “you will have to see more foreign inflows into the stock market and more investments, and I believe it’ll come,” Awad added.

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