Avalon Pharma’s market value at $437m on listing

Reuters/Ahmed Yosri

Saudi Arabia’s Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries Company (Avalon Pharma) has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at the top of its range at SAR82 ($21.87), implying a market capitalisation of SAR1.64 billion ($437.33 million) on listing.

The recorded orders during the institutional book-building stood at SAR68.27 billion, representing a coverage of 138.76 times.

The retail IPO subscription period will last three days, starting January 30 and ending February 1.

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The home-grown pharmaceutical maker will offer six million shares, or 30 percent of its issued share capital, on the Saudi Exchange’s main market.

Riyadh-headquartered Avalon Pharma’s main activities include the development, manufacturing and marketing of consumer health and beauty brands as well as generic prescription medicines.

The company has over 5,000 sq m manufacturing capacity and a warehouse network across Saudi Arabia. It has three manufacturing and research and development facilities and four warehouses within the kingdom.

Avalon Pharma recently completed a major expansion by doubling its manufacturing capacity, which is expected to start production by the second quarter of 2024, the company said in its IPO prospectus.

The total medicine and medical supplements sector in Saudi Arabia are anticipated to increase at an annual rate of five percent to reach SAR44 billion by 2027, according to the prospectus.