Thursday 27 February 2014

UPDATE 1-Saudi Arabia to sell 15 pct of National Commercial Bank in IPO | Reuters

UPDATE 1-Saudi Arabia to sell 15 pct of National Commercial Bank in IPO | Reuters:



"Feb 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's government plans to sell a 15 percent stake in National Commercial Bank (NCB), the country's largest lender by assets, in an initial public offer that would be the kingdom's first bank IPO since 2008.



Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf said the IPO plan would be submitted to the market regulator in the third quarter of this year, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday. Sovereign fund Public Investment Fund will be the seller.



The fund, which currently owns most of NCB, will also sell an additional 10 percent stake to the government's Public Pension Agency.



Alassaf did not discuss the pricing of the IPO but it is likely to be one of Saudi Arabia's biggest, since NCB has assets of $101 billion and made a net profit of $2.1 billion last year. Analysts said it would likely be one of the three largest stocks on the Saudi bourse."



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