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Institutional investors still have an appetite for Saudi IPOs: Dar Al Balad for Business Solutions priced its IPO at the top of its guiding range at SAR 9.75 per share — implying a transaction size of around SAR 205 mn (USD 55 mn) — after the institutional book-build came in 66.6x oversubscribed, the company said in its final price announcement (pdf) yesterday.
What it means for valuation: The pricing values the company at SAR 682 mn (USD 182 mn) — or roughly 13.5x its 2025 net income of SAR 51 mn. Not cheap for an IT services firm, but not out of line with the multiples Tadawul-listed tech names have been trading at.
Why it matters: As the first Gulf IPO since the war broke out in late February, this level of oversubscription is the clearest data point yet on whether institutional money is still willing to put capital to work in Saudi and the region.
What’s next?
Retail gets its turn: Individual subscriptions kick off on Sunday, 10 May and run through Thursday, 14 May. Retail allocations are capped at 6.3 mn shares (30% of the offering), with a 10-share floor and a 100k-share ceiling per applicant. Final allocations land on 18 May and refunds will be processed by 21 May.
Tranche dynamics: The issuance manager can shrink the share allocated to public funds from 30% to as little as 21% (4.41 mn shares) if retail demand turns out as strong as the institutional response suggests. That means the more retail investors pile in, the less public funds get.
Listing date: Tadawul will announce the start of trading once the regulatory housekeeping is wrapped up, but if the timeline holds, expect shares to start changing hands in the back half of May.
What we’re watching: Whether Berain — the bottled water player whose CMA approval landed the same day Dar Al Balad published its prospectus — moves quickly to take advantage of the same window.
ADVISORS- AlJazira Capital is quarterbacking the transaction as financial advisor, lead manager, and underwriter. It is also acting as joint bookrunner alongside Emirates NBD. Baker McKenzie is counsel.
