Saudi Printing IPO gets the OK

The Saudi bourse watchdog has approved Saudi Printing and Packaging Co.'s (SPPC) initial public offering for 30% of its capital, the watchdog said on Monday.

"The board of the Capital Market Authority [CMA] has approved the start of the book-building process for the initial public offering in SPPC... to fix the IPO's pricing," CMA said in a statement posted on the bourse's website.

SPPC will sell 18 million shares, CMA added. SPPC is wholly-owned by Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), an international Arab newspaper publisher.

The company was established in Jeddah in 1963, as Madina Printing and Publishing Co. (MPPC), changed to SPPC in mid-2006, according to its website.

It specialises in the production of daily newsprints and other loose-leaf publications, magazines, commercial and packaging printing, the website said.

It gave no data on the company's business indicators.

SPPC's IPO will be the second to apply the book-building process after Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipes in May.

Before the book-building process was introduced, a company either sells shares at a nominal value of 10 riyals ($2.67) or at a higher price set with its advisers before the IPO opens.

The price of 10 riyals usually applies to IPOs of companies in the making, while established firms apply the book-building process to fix the price of their stock.

Vitrified's stock is now trading at 152 riyals, nearly four times the price fixed by book-builders.

Property developer Jabal Omar will open subscription on Saturday to raise 2.01 billion riyal in an initial public offering for 30% of its capital.

Jabal Omar, which is building hotels and shopping malls in the holy city of Mecca, will offer 2.01 million shares at the nominal price of ten riyals each. It is one of the largest listings planned for this year.

Kingdom Holding, probably the largest Saudi private firm by capital, also plans to float shares for the first time in June, owner Prince Alwaleed said last month.

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