The Middle East’s biggest broadcaster, MBC Group, is planning to start meeting investors for its Riyadh initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — The Middle East’s biggest broadcaster, MBC Group, is planning to start meeting investors for its Riyadh initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
MBC will start meetings to gauge early demand as soon as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. GIB Capital is also involved in the potential IPO, they said.
HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have also been working on the planned share sale, Bloomberg News reported in November. Representatives for MBC and GIB weren’t available for comment.
The Saudi government owns 60% of MBC and the rest is held by founder and chairman Waleed Al Ibrahim, one of the kingdom’s richest businessmen.
Al Ibrahim was among dozens of billionaires locked up in Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton in 2017 as part of what the government called an anti-corruption campaign, but was seen by others as a shake-down of some of the country’s wealthiest businesses and potential rivals.
After the emptying of the Ritz, the government took control of 60% of MBC — including shares belonging to the family of entrepreneur Saleh Kamel — while Al Ibrahim retained his 40% share.
MBC was founded in London in 1991. It moved its headquarters to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2002, and then to Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. The first privately-owned pan-Arab satellite TV channel, it now includes over 17 TV channels and video-streaming service Shahid VIP.
Saudi Arabia’s IPO market has recently picked up the pace after its slowest start to the year in almost a decade, helped by a 17% rebound in the country’s benchmark index from a March low. Still, less than $1 billion has been raised through listings in the kingdom this year, a far cry from the $4.4 billion seen this time in 2022, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
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