Biggest Saudi IPO since Aramco jumps 30% on trading debut

Biggest Saudi IPO since Aramco jumps 30% on trading debut

ACWA Power International surged on debut in Riyadh after raising more than $1.2bn in the biggest Saudi Arabian listing since Aramco. The stock jumped by the 30 per cent daily limit to SAR72.80 on Monday as investors flocked to a business seen as key to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify from oil. ACWA, which aims to play a major role in the transition to greener energy by producing renewable electricity and hydrogen, had offered shares at SAR56 each. The offering drew in more than $300bn in orders, meaning investors’ allocations were severely limited. ACWA is now valued at $14.2bn, making it one of the biggest listed companies in Riyadh. “ACWA Power is an outstanding success story – it reinvented the power sector in Saudi Arabia,” Tarek Fadlallah, the Dubai-based head of Nomura Asset Management’s Middle East unit, said in an interview with before the market opened. “The valuation is a different issue. I’m not sure it’s a cheap stock.” The government has said ACWA will help develop 70 per cent of Saudi renewable energy projects. It is part of a consortium developing a $5bn plant that will export green hydrogen from the new city of Neom. The fuel will be