In the first dual listing of its kind, Americana Restaurants International Plc’s owners will offer 2.53 billion shares in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, according to a statement on Wednesday. The IPO could raise at least US$2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, which would make it Saudi Arabia’s biggest listing this year.
Final details are still under discussion and may change, the people said. A representative for Americana declined to comment.
The firm will be the first to have shares traded in both Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, where the Tadawul exchange has for years been encouraging firms to dual list.
The offer period will run from Nov 14 to Nov 21 for retail investors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and until Nov 22 for institutional investors. Trading on both exchanges will start on or around Dec 6
Americana is targeting a partial dividend distribution of about 75% of net profit attributable to parent for the six months to Dec 31. The company will pay an annual dividend from 2023, and said it plans to distribute a minimum of 50% of net profit.
Gulf IPO rush
The listing is part of a late-year rush of IPOs in the Middle East even as markets worldwide are hit by fears over inflation and the risk of an economic slowdown. A surge in oil prices at the start of 2022, as well as increased investor inflows, led to a flurry of listings in the Persian Gulf, which notched up its best first half on record for stock-market debuts.
Americana joins a crowded IPO calendar in the region, with Dubai district cooling firm Empower currently taking orders for an offering of as much as US$543 million and private school operator Taaleem Holdings PJSC and Riyadh Cables Group both starting to gauge investor demand for their respective IPOs this week.
Americana operates restaurants for brands including Baskin Robbins, Costa Coffee and TGI Fridays as well as KFC and Pizza Hut, according to its website. It was previously operated by Kuwait Food Co under the wider Americana umbrella, which included both the restaurant and food businesses. The IPO is for the restaurant business only.
The firm reported revenue of US$2.05 billion for the year ended Dec 2021, and a net profit of US$204 million. Alabbar’s Adeptio AD Investments SPC Ltd bought the firm in 2016. The PIF took a 50% stake in Adeptio at the end of that year and Americana was subsequently delisted from the Kuwait stock exchange.
First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and SNB Capital are joint global coordinators for the IPO, while HSBC Holdings Plc and EFG Hermes are joint bookrunners.