Saudi airline catering unit IPO seeks $350mn

The catering unit of Saudi Arabian Airlines is seeking to raise 1.3bn riyals ($350mn) by floating 30% of its shares, the prospectus showed as the initial public offer opened to retail investors yesterday. The sale of shares in Saudi Airlines Catering Co has been keenly awaited by investors as the company will be the first part of the Saudi flag carrier, one of the kingdom’s largest state-owned entities, to be listed on the stock market. The company is offering a total of 24.6mn shares. Institutional investors subscribed to 50% of them, leaving retail investors to subscribe to the other half between June 18 and 24 at a price of 54 riyals per share, which was determined by a book-building process. Saudi Arabian Airlines started a process of privatisation in 2006 by splitting into six units: catering, cargo, maintenance, airlines, flight academy and ground handling. It plans to privatise each of the units individually and offer them to the public. The catering unit initially aimed for a flotation in late 2010, but it ran into delays in securing regulatory approval. Analysts originally estimated the 30% stake in the unit might be sold for between $400mn and $540mn. The listing of the unit will be the fifth in the Saudi stock market this year.