The Saudi Public Investment Fund announced on Thursday that it raised 3.86 billion riyals (1.03 billion dollars) from the sale of two percent of its stake in Saudi Telecom Company (STC), aiming to raise funds for the economic diversification program in the country.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, also known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Richness, plans to sell about two percent of its stake in STC, raising about 1.1 billion dollars at this time. The price of the final sale of 100 million shares was set at 38.6 riyals (10.27 dollars) per share, which is 6.1 percent lower than the closing price of the company's shares in the market, which averaged 41.1 riyals.
This deal could bring in up to 1.1 billion dollars to the Public Investment Fund based on the share price of STC at 41.1 riyals (10.94 dollars) at the closing of the average. The fund stated that this is the largest accelerated placement of shares in Saudi Arabia, as well as in the region of the Middle East and North Africa.
Goldman Sachs and the Saudi National Bank, which manage the deal, stated in their announcement that the price of the share package, consisting of approximately 100 million shares, will be set through an accelerated process of gathering orders, and the final results will be announced on Thursday.
