Sources: Agricultural “Olam” to be listed in Saudi Arabia and ‎Singapore ‎

Credit Suisse and Mizuho have joined the group of banks working to list the agricultural arm of Olam Group in Singapore and Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the matter.

EFG Hermes and National Bank of Saudi Arabia have also been added as joint bookrunners in the planned dual listing of Olam Agri that could raise up to $1 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public. ,

These people said that Singapore-based Olam, one of the largest agricultural commodities traders in Asia, plans to announce an IPO for its agribusiness in the first half of 2023. Bloomberg News reported in January that Citigroup . and DBS Group Holding. And “HSBC Holdings” and “Morgan Stanley” are already working on arranging the offering deal, according to Al-Arabiya.

Olam Agri is set to be the first international company to be listed in Riyadh, in what could be a gain for the kingdom’s stock exchange, which is seeking to attract international companies.

Last year, Americana Restaurants raised $1.8 billion in its first dual listing in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The listing in Riyadh will allow Olam Agri to take advantage of the IPO boom in the Middle East, which is gathering strength. The year 2022 witnessed a great momentum in regional listings, which amounted to nearly $ 23 billion in the second highest year on record. Most of the IPOs were in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

By comparison, Singapore has not had a $1 billion initial public offering since 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and seen by Al Arabiya.net. The data showed that the Singapore Stock Exchange raised only $42 million last year

In March, the Olam Group sold a 35% stake in Olam Agri to the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, in a deal that valued the company at about $3.5 billion.