By Federico Maccioni

 

DUBAI, 15 Nov. - (ANA) - Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF has raised 3.86 billion riyals ($1.03 billion) from selling a 2% stake in telecoms firm STC (7010.SE), opens new tab, PIF said on Thursday, as it seeks to raise funds for the Gulf country's economic diversification programme.

 

The final price for the sale of the 100 million shares was set at 38.6 riyals ($10.27) per share, about a 6.1% discount to STC's closing price of 41.1 riyals on Wednesday, according to Reuters' calculations.

 

The offering was the largest ever accelerated book-build share sale in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, PIF said in a statement.

It was oversubscribed by five times, with 40% of the shares on offer allocated to international investors, according to a person familiar with the matter.

 

PIF, which had sold 6% of STC for $3.2 billion in 2021, will keep a stake of 62% in the country's largest telecoms operator after the offering, which was announced late on Wednesday by banks running the deal.

 

"This transaction is in line with PIF’s strategy to recycle its capital and invest in emerging and promising sectors in the local economy," it said.

 

The wealth fund, which has nearly $1 trillion in assets under management, is the main engine of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's strategy to wean the Saudi economy off its dependence on the oil that made it one of the world's richest nations.

 

The plan, known as "Vision 2030", aims to develop new sectors and create more sustainable revenue streams.

 

However, the world's top oil exporter has had to rein in some of its ambitions over the past year as low oil prices and production hit an economy still heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues.

 

As part of a review, the kingdom has scaled back lofty ambitions for its NEOM mega-project - a Red Sea urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium - to prioritise completing elements essential to hosting global sporting events over the next decade as rising costs weigh, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

 

The report followed the sudden departure of the project's long-time CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr.

 

STC's shares fell as much as 3.9% to 39.5 riyals at the start of trading in Riyadh on Thursday. They were trading down 0.6% at around 0945 GMT and have risen over 4% since the start of the year.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/15 November 2024 - - -