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UIHC inches closer to Tadawul debut: Tadawul-listed United Electronics Company (eXtra) is looking to take a 30% stake — good for 7.5 mn shares — of its financial services arm United International Holding Company (UIHC) to Tadawul’s main market, the company said in a prospectus (pdf). The offering will be open to institutional and retail investors, and will see parent company eXtra pocket all of the proceeds. The story got coverage in Bloomberg.
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ICYMI- Shareholders of electronics retailer eXtra approved the IPO of UIHC — which owns and operates Tasheel Finance — in April before the Capital Market Authority gave its okay for the move in June.
Use of proceeds + lockup: The selling shareholder (eXtra) will pocket all proceeds from the offering after an estimated SAR 37 mn are put aside to cover IPO related expenses. Some of the funds will be channeled towards “repaying a part of eXtra’s debt estimated at SAR 190 mn,” eXtra CEO Mohamed Galal had said earlier. It’s still unclear how much the company aims to raise from the offering.
Subscription limits: Institutional investors will be able to subscribe to 100% of the offering, booking a maximum of 1.25 mn shares and minimum of 50k shares each. Meanwhile, retail investors will be allocated 10% of the offering “if there is sufficient demand,” where they will be able to subscribe to a maximum of 250k shares, and a minimum of 10 shares each.
The timeline:
- Subscriptions for institutional investors will run for an eight-day period beginning on Monday, 28 October;
- The final IPO price will be set on Tuesday, 12 November;
- Subscriptions for retail investors will run for two days beginning on Tuesday, 19 November;
- The final allocation of shares is set to take place no later than Monday, 25 November;
- Excess funds will be refunded by Thursday, 28 November.
Ownership structure: eXtra owns 99% of UIHC, which also owns and operates Procco Financial Services in Bahrain. eXtra Bahrain owns the remaining 1% of UIHC.
A snapshot of FY 2023: UIHC’s net income grew 10% y-o-y to SAR 212. 2 mn in 2023, according to audited financial results in the prospectus. Revenues were up 25.6% at SAR 523.9 m over the same period.
Looking ahead: UIHC says it wants to be the largest provider of shariah-compliant consumer finance in the Kingdom operating across multiple categories. It benefits from access to the 14 mn customers that pass through eXtra’s 48 stores across the country and is broadening the base of companies that it works with.
ADVISORS- Our friends at HSBC Saudi Arabia are quarterbacking the transaction as sole financial advisor and lead manager, while also acting as joint bookrunners and underwriters with the good folks at EFG Hermes KSA. The Law Firm of Salah Al Hejailan will provide legal counsel to the issuer, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer providing counsel to the issuer outside of the Kingdom. Meanwhile, EY was appointed as financial due diligence advisor, and PwC as auditor. Receiving against include, SAB Invest, Al Rajhi Capital, BSF Capital, Alinma Investment, and Riyad Capital, among others.
