The first IPO to close next year will be of SR500m ($134m) of shares in Arabian Cement Company. The offering, equivalent to 12.5 per cent of the company’s share capital, opened on 29 December and will close on 7 January. Riyad Bank is the issue manager and underwriter.

PetroRabigh will raise SR4.6bn ($1.2bn) when the company stages an IPO of 25 per cent of its shares on 5 January. The offer will open for a week and the company will sell 219 million shares priced at SR21 ($5.6) to local investors. HSBC is the issue manager and underwriter.

Offerings in the kingdom are usually priced at a par value of SR10 ($2.7) but selling shares at using a book building method is increasingly used in the kingdom following the IPO of shares in Kingdom Holding Company in July. The 5 per cent IPO was the first offering to be sold using the pricing method that matches the share price to an assessment of investor demand.