Booming stock market in Saudi Arabia / the largest pharmacy in the Middle East goes public
According to Tejarat News, the largest pharmacy chain in Saudi Arabia intends to expand its business and wants to start its business with an initial public offering in this country. Al-Nahdi plans to use its pharmacies across Saudi Arabia to provide primary health care. For this purpose, it uses the existing clinics in Jeddah. The company claims that 90% of the Saudi population is only 5 minutes away from its nearest pharmacy. And, of course, it intends to expand its business in the UAE in various ways, including mergers with other companies.
The chain of pharmacies plans to sell 30% of its shares through initial public offering. The order registration process for this initial public offering will begin in early March. “We have now reached a point where we can share what we have built by inviting more shareholders,” said Yasser Johari, the company’s CEO. “It not only strengthens our finances and budgets, but also improves our performance.”
Quoted from Bloomberg, The number of Saudi family businesses listed on the stock list is increasing day by day. The shares of these companies attract a lot of investors and are in high demand. The last company to be initially launched in Saudi Arabia was a digital security company with revenue of about $ 57 billion.
Active market of Saudi initial supply
Saudi companies earned about $ 9.3 billion last year from the sale of their shares, making the Saudi initial public offering the most active market in the Middle East and Africa after Israel.
Last week, another pharmaceutical company, Al-Dawa, said it planned to make $ 500 million through its initial public offering. Al-Nahdi appears to be seeking $ 4.3 billion in revenue through this initial public offering. The company’s shares are sold equally by its two major shareholders, Sedco Holding and Al-Nahdi Holding.
Al-Nahdi Pharmaceutical Company has 1151 stores in 144 cities across Saudi Arabia. The chain pharmacies had revenue of about $ 2.3 billion in 2020 and a profit of $ 226 million.