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Almasar Education gets the all-clear for a Saudi IPO: Almasar Education (formerly known as Amanat Education) — the schools arm of Dubai-listed private equity firm Amanat Holdings — secured approval from the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) to float a 30% stake, or 30.7 mn shares, on main market Tadawul, according to two separate statements (here, pdf and here). While no timeline was given for the offering, CMA approvals are typically only valid for six months.
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Almasar Education operates across Saudi Arabia and the UAE, serving more than 23k students. Its portfolio includes: Human Development Company (60% owned), the largest private provider of special education needs in Saudi Arabia, covering education, medical and rehabilitation services; Middlesex University Dubai (100% owned), the first overseas campus of Middlesex University London; and NEMA Holding (35% owned), which runs Abu Dhabi University and Liwa University across five campuses in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai.
Refresher: Amanat’s planned IPO of Almasar Education was expected to raise around USD300 mn. Amanat had tapped SNB Capital in November 2024 to arrange the listing, which has been in the works since May 2024, when Amanat announced plans to carve out its education platform into a separate holding company. Its board discussed the proposal that July, and Almasar was formally launched as a standalone brand in March 2025, with headquarters in Riyadh.
In context: Analysts have cautioned that larger regional IPOs slated for earlier this year could face delays amid geopolitical risks and softer investor sentiment, even as the wider Tadawul pipeline holds up.
1H performance + outlook: Almasar reported a 23% y-o-y jump in its 1H 2025 revenue, with student numbers and beneficiaries rising to more than 23k, according to the disclosure.
What’s next for Almasar: The company is looking to expand its network of education centers and boost higher education enrollments while also exploring new offerings, including residential facilities for special needs education.
ALSO IN THE PIPELINE-
- Cherry Trading and Coldchain manufacturer Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding have been cleared to list 30% of their shares on Tadawul’s main market;
- IT firm Ejada Systems, which missed its six-month IPO window, is set to resubmit an IPO application to the CMA;
- PIF-backed Saudi Global Ports, Tabreed District Cooling, Medical procurement firm Nupco, Riyad Capital, and BNPL platform Tabby are among companies that tapped banks for potential IPOs;
- F&B players Barns, Half Million, Deemah, and Hashi Bashi are said to be sounding out banks for potential debuts on the main market;
- Almosafer is preparing for a public listing on Tadawul by late 2025 or early 2026;
- Alternative hospitality platform Gathern, local contractor Mutlaq Al Ghowairi Contracting (MGC), PIF-backed CloudKitchens, fast delivery app Ninja, Meal subscription startup Calo, Emkan Finance, and Tamweel Aloula are all said to be considering Tadawul IPOs.
MEANWHILE- Almasar’s green light came alongside several other listings cleared by the regulator this week. The CMA gave the nod to Bidaya Finance’s SAR 1 bn debt instruments program. On the equity side, it cleared EFSIMFacilities Management to float 16.8 mn shares (30% of capital) on the main market and Khaled Dhafer & Brother’s Logistics Services Company to offer 700k shares (20%) on the parallel market Nomu. The restaurant operator Alromansiah also got the go-ahead to float 30% of its share capital, or 18 mn shares, on the main market.
