Egypt’s EFG boosts Saudi Arabia presence to tap IPO boom

28 Mar 2024

Riyadh - Maaal

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Egypt’s biggest investment bank plans to increase headcount in Saudi Arabia by a third this year, joining other financial firms that have beefed up operations in the kingdom amid a flurry of deal-making activity, Bloomberg reported.

EFG Holding S.A.E. has moved some very senior resources to the kingdom and has budgeted to increase headcount by 30% to 47 people, Chief Executive Officer Karim Awad said in an interview.

“We have big plans for hopefully increasing our market share, either at brokerage or investment banking through more deals,” he said. “We need to have a lot more focus there.”

The kingdom is emerging as one of the key battleground markets for global investment banks, drawing in the likes of Rothschild & Co., which last month unveiled plans to set up a new office in Riyadh.

Part of the draw is a string of deals in the offing, including a potential $20 billion secondary share sale in Aramco. Meanwhile, the Public Investment Fund is considering equity offerings in its portfolio companies to help fund a trillion-dollar economic transformation, Bloomberg News has reported.