Private equity activity is down, but not out: While Saudi Arabia’s private equity sector experienced a slowdown in 2024 following a strong peak in 2023, larger transactions and sector-specific trends signal continued interest and potential for growth, according to Magnitt’s Saudi Arabia PE report (pdf).

By the numbers: The Kingdom closed out 15 private equity transactions last year, totaling USD 2.8 bn, marking a 27% y-o-y drop in terms of value and a 60% y-o-y decline in terms of volume. Buyout transactions accounted for 82% of all PE activity in terms of value last year — down from 99% in 2023 — across five transactions. Meanwhile, growth investments picked up, accounting for 18% of total PE value in 2024 — up from around 1% in 2023 — across 10 transactions.

MEANWHILE- Saudi Arabia didn’t see any leveraged buyouts (LBO) last year, despite these transactions making a comeback in the US and Europe. The absence of LBOs is attributed to “the high interest rate environment and a lack of IPOs and exits in the PE sector, which reduces the risk tolerance for lending banks,” Magnitt CEO and founder Philip Bahoshy told EnterpriseAM. LBOs are expected to gain traction in the Kingdom and the wider region as interest rates drop, and the PE sector matures with more successful IPOs and exists in the coming years, Bahoshy added.

Larger transactions are picking up steam: Transactions valued at USD 200 mn or above accounted for 29% of all PE investments in the Kingdom last year — up 15 percentage points from 2023. While acquisitions worth between USD 50-200 mn also made up 29% of the total, their share of the total fell 14 percentage points y-o-y.

LEADING THE PACK-

The telecoms sector captured the lion’s share (81.8%) of PE investment value in Saudi Arabia last year, coming in at USD 2.3 bn. The sustainability sector followed, locking in USD 225 mn in PE capital (8%), and healthcare attracted USD 190 mn (6.7%).

F&B + healthcare saw the highest number of transactions: In terms of volume, the food & beverage and healthcare sectors saw the highest count of PE transactions last year, closing three transactions each, followed by the financial services sector with two transactions, transport and logistics (two transactions), and education (one transaction).

Tawal topped the buyout league table: The Public Investment Fund (PIF) recently wrappedup its USD 2.3 bn (SAR 8.9 bn) acquisition of a 51% stake in telecoms giant Tawal in what was the single largest PE transaction of 2024. The transaction underscores the dominance of large-scale buyouts in the domestic PE scene.

There were fewer players in the game: The number of institutional investors in PE dropped to 13 in 2024 from 19 the previous year, as firms took a more selective approach to PE dealmaking. PIF and TMW were the only investors to execute multiple transactions. Other notable investors last year included the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, the PIF’s Jadwa Investment, Merak Capital and Green Corp, among others.

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