Reuters: Saudi Magrabi plans IPO, hires banks‎

Saudi Magrabi is considering a flotation of its hospitals business next year and has hired banks for the deal, Reuters said citing two familiar sources.

The eyecare group, which runs one of the largest chains of optical retail stores and eye clinics in the Middle East, has mandated Rothschild & Co (ROTH.PA) as financial advisor and HSBC as lead manager to run the initial public offering (IPO), said the sources.

Saudi Arabia is encouraging more family-owned companies to list in a bid to deepen its capital markets under reforms aimed at reducing the kingdom’s reliance on oil revenues.

It should be noted that Saudi Arabia’s Middle East Healthcare Company, the company behind Saudi German Hospitals, raised $3.2 billion in 2019 when it sold 30% of the company in an IPO. Nahdi Medical, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the kingdom, raised $1.36 billion in March from its public share sale.

Founded in 1955 as an eye hospital in Jeddah, Magrabi runs more than 32 hospitals across the Middle East.

 Magrabi says it was the first in the Middle East to perform a corneal transplant surgery in 1968.

Gulf issuers have raised around $16 billion this year, accounting for about half of total IPO proceeds from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.