Amanat Holding’s Riyadh-based education arm, Almasar Education, wrapped up its SAR 599 mn (USD 159.7 mn) main market Tadawul IPO, with the retail portion 1.21x oversubscribed, the company said in a statement (pdf). The retail pool accounted for 30% of the total offer, and wraps up the second leg of the IPO after the institutional tranche, priced earlier this month at SAR 19.50 per share, closed 102.9x oversubscribed, setting the company up for a SAR 2 bn market cap at listing.

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Refresher: Almasar is floating a 30% stake via a secondary offering. Amanat, the sole owner, will be subject to a six-month lockup from the first day of trading. Amanat had carved out its Saudi and UAE education assets as part of a restructuring process in 2024 before formally launching the Almasar brand this March. The company has been scaling quickly in the Kingdom, doubling its special-needs daycare centers to 39 since 2022, expanding its school network to 14 campuses, and earmarking SAR 115 mn in capex for further growth.

The debut also comes against a tougher backdrop for Saudi equities: Tadawul remains the worst-performing major emerging-market exchange YTD, with only a handful of this year’s IPOs trading above their offering price, underscoring how stretched valuations have been across the 2025 pipeline. The benchmark is down 11.2% YTD despite a two-month rebound in September (+7.5%) and October (+1.3%), leaving it lagging regional peers that have spent most of the year in positive territory, including Dubai (+12.8%), and Egypt (+34.2%).

Almasar Education’s IPO ranks ninth by proceeds among main-market listings this year, with its SAR 599 mn offering placing it just behind United Carton Industries (SAR 600 mn) and ahead of Marketing Home Group (SAR 408 mn) in a year dominated by bigger raises such as Flynas (SAR 4.1 bn), Umm Al Qura (SAR 2 bn), and Specialized Medical Company (SAR 1.9 bn). The company is listing as Tadawul comes off a cooler 3Q, with the main market seeing three IPOs — the same as previous quarters this year — signaling a consistent but selective issuance pace.

Not the only Amanat IPO in the cards: Earlier in 2023, Amanat was said to have tapped EFG Hermes and First Abu Dhabi Bank to prepare a potential listing of its healthcare arm, which could see it raise about USD 200 mn in IPO proceeds.

ADVISORS- Our friends at EFG Hermes managed bookbuilding alongside SNB Capital. SNB Capital is also quarterbacking the transaction as the financial advisor, bookrunner, and underwriter. Clifford Chance is providing counsel to the issuer, while Baker Mackenzie is advising the bookrunner. PwC is handling financial and tax due diligence, Euromonitor International is providing market research, and Deloitte is acting as the auditor.

Receiving agents include EFG Hermes, SNB Capital, Riyadh Capital, Saudi Fransi Capital, AlJazira Capital, Yaqeen Capital, AlBilad Capital, ANB Capital, Derayah Financial, AlRajhi Capital, Alistithmar Capital, Alinma Investment, Sab Invest, Alkhabeer Capital, Sahm Capital, GIB Capital, Musharaka Capital, and Awaed Al Osool Capital.

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