Riyadh-The Saudi Arabian Mining Co., Ma’aden, has announced its intention to sell 50 percent of its shares, comprising 462,500,000 shares, via an initial public offering at the beginning of July 2008. The price of SR20 (US$5.33) per share, made up of SR10 as nominal value and SR10 as a premium, has been set. A proportion of these shares will be made available to investment funds and licensed individuals. The shares will be available between July 5-July 11. Ma’aden’s President and CEO, Dr. Abdallah Dabbagh, said the allocation to retail subscribers will take place in two stages. In the first stage, each subscriber will get a minimum of 25 shares. During the second stage, up to 2000 shares will be allocated to subscribers who have applied for more than 25 shares as long as the total shares allocated do not exceed total shares offered to retail subscribers. The balance of the offer shares, if available, will be allocated on a pro-rata basis. Before the IPO Ma’aden will publish a prospectus for investors containing company information. It will also contain the share price, financial statements, and other information about the company, its activities, and management. Dr. Dabbagh said the decision to offer shares was taken to fulfill the company’s expansion strategy and broaden its ownership base among the Saudi public. Ma’aden has started construction of a $5.5 billion world-scale complex to manufacture phosphate fertilizer. The company is also involved in other mineral projects. Ma’aden noted that the offering will be the largest floatation in the region’s minerals sector and the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Ma’aden, established as a Saudi Arabian joint stock company in March 1997, is currently owned 100 percent by the government. Its purpose is to facilitate the development of Saudi Arabia’s non-petroleum mineral resources and to help diversify the Kingdom’s economy away from the petroleum and petrochemical sectors.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain