Kuwait’s BIG Holding plans to list 30% stake on Boursa Kuwait
DUBAI: Kuwait’s Beyout Investment Group (BIG) Holding, which provides human resources and real estate services, said on Tuesday it plans to float a 30 percent stake on Boursa Kuwait in the first potential listing in the country in around two years.
BIG Holding CEO Abdulrahman Al-Khannah.
The final offering price will be determined through a bookbuilding process to be held May 19-23 and the shares are expected to debut on the Kuwaiti stock exchange next month.
There has been a flurry of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Gulf region in recent years, including from private businesses, as part of broad plans to deepen capital markets, grow the private sector and attract investment. So far this year, private firms such as Saudi Arabian flour mills company Modern Mills and UAE supermarket franchisee Spinneys have listed, while others such as SMASCO and BIG Holding have announced intentions to float.
“The best way that the private sector grows is by becoming public and (to) grow the stock market of the same country. I think Kuwait would be following the same trend that is coming in the region,” BIG Holding CEO Abdulrahman Al-Khannah told Reuters.
Founded in 1991, the firm provides manpower solutions and manages real estate projects including build-operate-transfer and public-private partnership deals. Its customers include US army contractors as well as the Kuwait Oil Company. Al-Khannah said the IPO would help to diversify the company’s shareholder base while boosting growth opportunities in the countries where it operates. BIG Holding held early roadshows with over 40 potential investors in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and London, including institutional investors and funds, between mid December and mid January, he said.
The firm has delivered average revenue growth of 12.6 percent and a normalized core profit margin of around 30.4 percent over the last three years. Proceeds from the offering, for which National Investments Company (NIC) and EFG Hermes UAE have been appointed as joint coordinators, will go to the selling shareholders. Companies domiciled in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region raised $1.2 billion in IPO proceeds in the first quarter of this year, down 66 percent compared from a year earlier, according to data from consulting firm EY. — Agencies.
