The Middle Eastern operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants is set for a landmark dual listing, in which Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Mohamed Alabbar, a businessman based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), would sell a 30 percent stake in the firm.
In the first dual listing of its kind, Americana Restaurants International PLC’s owners would offer 2.53 billion shares in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, they said yesterday.
The initial public offering (IPO) could raise at least US$2 billion, which would make it Saudi Arabia’s biggest listing this year, people familiar with the matter said.
Photo: REUTERS
Final details are still under discussion and might change, the people said.
A representative for Americana declined to comment.
The firm would be the first to have shares traded in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, where the Tadawul exchange has for years been encouraging firms to dual list.
The offer period would 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 the two exchanges would start on Dec. 6
Americana is targeting a partial dividend distribution of about 75 percent of net profit attributable to the parent firms for the six months to Dec. 31.
The company would pay an annual dividend from next year, and said it plans to distribute a minimum of 50 percent of net profit.
The listing is part of a late-year rush of IPOs in the Middle East even as markets worldwide are hit by inflation fears and the risk of an economic slowdown. A surge in oil prices at the start of this year, as well as increased investor inflows, led to a flurry of listings in the Persian Gulf, which notched up its best first half of a year on a record for stock market debuts.
Americana operates restaurants for brands including Baskin Robbins, Costa Coffee and TGI Fridays, as well as KFC and Pizza Hut, its Web site says.
It was previously operated by Kuwait Food Co under the wider Americana umbrella, which included 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 December last year, and net profit of US$204 million.
Alabbar’s Adeptio AD Investments SPC Ltd bought the firm in 2016. The Public Investment Fund took a 50 percent stake in Adeptio at the end of that year, and Americana subsequently delisted from the Kuwait stock exchange.
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