Markets Saudi Arabia approves dual listing of Pizza Hut and KFC franchisee By Reuters November 1, 2022 Creative Commons The subscription period will remain unchanged until November 21 for individuals Saudi Arabia’s market regulator said on Monday it had approved a concurrent and dual listing of Americana Group, the Middle East and North Africa franchisee of fast-food chains KFC and Pizza Hut, in the kingdom and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Americana has approval to sell 30 percent of its shares, which will be the first to trade in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Capital Market Authority said the approval was for a dual registration in the two countries and an offering of 2.53 billion shares. Americana is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and an investment consortium led by Dubai businessman Mohammed Alabbar, founder of Dubai-listed Emaar Properties . According to the latest EY Mena IPO Eye report, the Mena region witnessed a 288 percent year-on-year increase in the number of companies listing between January and September, raising $14.7 billion in total – up 550 percent on the same period last year. “Despite IPO volumes and values declining significantly in the majority of other global markets, the Mena region continues to forge its own path with a steady stream of new listings in Q3 adding to the large number of IPOs already announced across exchanges in the year-to-date,” said Brad Watson, EY Mena strategy and transactions leader.
