Clifford Chance has acted as issuer’s counsel to SAL Logistics Services Co. on its SAR 2.544 billion (approx. US$678.4 million) landmark IPO with an implied market capitalization at listing of SAR 8.84 billion (approx. US$ 2.261 billion), set to mark the second largest IPO in the MENA region this year. The IPO was completed on November 1, 2023 with the listing of the shares of SAL on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul).
The IPO raised more than 90% of the total IPO offer volume from institutional investors and the remaining offer volume from Saudi retail investors. The IPO order book was 72x times oversubscribed, with a total demand of SAR 182.4 billion (approx. US$ 48.6 billion).
SAL is a market leading cargo handling and logistics player in Saudi Arabia that is catalysing the Kingdom’s transformation into a more diversified economy connected to global markets through corporate networks and increasing flows of goods. SAL operates across four different verticals; cargo handling, logistics solutions, passenger handling, and fulfilment, offering a broad spectrum of value-added services, covering 18 airports across the Kingdom.
A strong cross-border team of lawyers from both Clifford Chance and AS&H Clifford Chance advised on this transaction.
The Clifford Chance Frankfurt team was led by partner Dr. George Hacket, supported by counsel Dr. Axel Wittmann, senior associate Andrei Manea and associate Maks Mencin.
The AS&H Clifford Chance team was led by partners Majid Al-Sheikh and Omar Rashid. Senior associate Rakan Kawar and associate Motaz Alfozan were the lead associates and were supported by associates Jomana Alkathiri, Alia Alkadi, Abdulrahman Alkhudairy, Dhary AlShathry, Ibrahim Al-Mansour and Yara Abushanan (all Riyadh-based).
AS&H Clifford Chance and Clifford Chance have an exceptionally strong track record of advising on some of the largest, most innovative and most complex deals in the Middle East. Together, we have advised on the following notable equity capital markets transactions in the Kingdom: ADES Holding on its IPO, Americana Restaurants International on its first of a kind dual listing (Equity Deal of the Year – IFLR Middle East Awards 2023), ACWA Power on its IPO, Marafiq on its SAR 3.36 billion (approx. US$900 million) landmark IPO and SAR 11.5 billion (approx. US$3.1 billion) listing on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company on its SAR 3.78 billion (approx. US$1 billion) landmark IPO and SAR 12.6 billion (approx. US$3.36 billion) listing on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), marking the biggest exchange IPO since Euronext went public in 2014, NCB Capital on its underwriting and sub-underwriting arrangements in relation to Saudi Aramco’s US$25.6 billion IPO (Equity Deal of the Year – IFLR Middle East Awards 2020); the underwriters, Jadwa Investment and Riyad Capital, on Sulaiman Al-Habib’s IPO – the first IPO in Saudi Arabia’s main market in 2020 and healthcare sector since 2016 and; the underwriters on Arabian Centres Company’s IPO – the first ever IPO in the Kingdom with a full international offering, including a Rule 144A offering (Equity Deal of the Year – IFLR Middle East Awards 2019).
