Markets Arabian Drilling IPO may fetch $710m as book-building starts By Reuters September 29, 2022 REUTERS/Nick Oxford Arabian Drilling operates 45 rigs as of 2021. Arabian Drilling Company, a Saudi oilfield services firm, will price its planned initial public offering (IPO) between SAR 90 ($23.89) and SAR 100 ($26.55) per share, HSBC Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday. HSBC Saudi Arabia, Goldman Sachs Saudi Arabia and SNB Capital are joint financial advisers, bookrunners and underwriters for the IPO, which could fetch the company between SAR 2.403 billion and SAR 2.67 billion ($638.59 million to $709.54 million). Arabian Drilling, which operated 45 rigs as of 2021 and has been drilling since 1964, will sell 30 percent of the company, or 26.7 million shares. That includes 17.7 million existing shares held by The Industrialization & Energy Services Company (TAQA) and nine million new shares. TAQA owns 51 percent of Arabian Drilling and top oilfield services firm Schlumberger owns 49 percent, according to Refinitiv data. Book-building for institutional investors began on Wednesday and will end on October 5, after which the final price will be set. The retail subscription period will start on October 18 and end the following day. The final allocation of shares will be announced on October 25 and the first day of trading is to be determined.
