Americana revises ADX and Saudi Arabia's Tadawul listing date to December 12

The company has raised $1.8bn through an initial public offering

Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. Illustration: Americana

Americana, the largest quick-service restaurant operator in the Mena region, has revised its listing date on the Arab world’s two largest stock markets to December 12. The company's shares will begin trading on the same day.

This is revised from the initial date of December 6 for the company that operates chains such as Pizza Hut and KFC in the region.

The move is subject to receiving all required regulatory approvals, the company said in a statement on Monday, adding that Americana will complete the initial public offering process through a dual listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul bourse.

The company has raised $1.8 billion by selling more than 2.52 billion shares — 30 per cent stake of its issued share capital — to retail and institutional investors.

It set the price range at the higher end of Dh2.62 ($0.71) in the UAE and 2.68 Saudi riyals ($0.71) a share in Saudi Arabia, implying an equity value for the group of $6.01 billion.

“We are looking forward to the next step of our growth journey and working towards future value creation,” Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Americana Restaurants, said.

“We are equally proud to have taken the final step towards a historic first-ever concurrent dual listing on ADX and the Saudi Exchange — further enhancing the depth and maturity of the UAE and Saudi capital markets.”

Americana is Saudi Arabia's largest IPO this year and the first company to be dually listed in the kingdom and the UAE.

Americana, which was founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970.

The company is the latest among regional companies seeking to raise funds through equity markets amid higher oil prices, greater liquidity and strong investor confidence.

It is the largest out-of-home dining operator in 12 countries across the Mena region and Kazakhstan.

Unlike global markets that have had subdued investor sentiment amid soaring inflation and rising recession fears, the Mena region has had strong IPO activity in 2021 and this year.

The region had 24 IPOs in the first half of this year. The UAE was the biggest IPO market in terms of the aggregate value of deals while Saudi Arabia led in terms of volume with five IPO deals in the first six months of the year, according to EY data.