PIF-backed Ades Holding aims to raise $1.2bn from IPO

Pexels/Jan-Rune Smenes Reite

Oil and gas driller Ades Holding has set its share price range at between SAR 12.50 and SAR 13.50, seeking to raise as much as SAR 4.57 billion ($1.22 billion) from its initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi stock exchange.

The institutional book-building process started on September 10 and will close on September 14.

Books were oversubscribed multiple times throughout the range within hours of opening, the company said in a separate notification.

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The share sale comprises 338.72 million ordinary shares, resulting in a free float of 30 percent after the sale of a mix of existing and newly issued shares through a capital increase.

Headquartered in Khobar and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Ades operates a fleet of offshore and onshore rigs across the Middle East, North Africa and India. Its key clients are Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Oil Company and North Oil Company in Qatar.

Selling shareholders PIF, Ades Investments Holdings and Zamil Group Investment will collectively sell 101,615,626 existing shares in proportion to their shareholding. ADES will also issue 237,103,128 new shares.

Ades operates across the Arab region, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. Operations in India will start in 2023 on the back of already awarded contracts.

The company has an aggregate fleet of 85 rigs in seven countries, including three rigs in India, 36 onshore drilling rigs, 46 jackup offshore drilling rigs, two jackup barges and one mobile offshore production unit.

The oil and gas driller reported SAR 1.98 billion ($528 million) in total revenue from customer contracts in the first half of 2023 and has a total backlog of SAR 27.6 billion as of June 30, 2023.