The largest pharmacy chain in Saudi Arabia, Nahdi Medical Co. plans to expand its primary healthcare business and may be considering an acquisition. Therefore, the company is preparing to add investors by holding an initial public offering (IPO).
Nahdi plans to sell a 30% stake and has hired units of HSBC Holdings Plc and Saudi National Bank to manage its IPO. Nahdi Medical is pursuing a valuation of around 16 billion riyals equivalent to US$ 4.3 billion in the IPO.
CEO of Nahdi Medical Co. Yasser Joharji said that now the company can use its pharmacies across the kingdom to start offering primary healthcare and building existing clinics in Jeddah.
Not only that, he said the company also wants to expand its business in the neighboring United Arab Emirates, including through acquisitions.
“We believe we have reached a stage where we can open up and share what we have built by inviting more shareholders into our company, which will add value to us not only from a financial point of view or funding point of view, but more importantly. urgent. in terms of best practice and exposure," said Joharji as quoted from Bloomberg, Monday (21/2).
Currently, Nahdi Medical has a pharmacy network with 1,151 outlets in 144 cities. They have a revenue of 8.6 billion riyals and a profit of 849 million riyals for 2020.
For your information, Saudi Arabian companies raised nearly $9.3 billion from stock offerings last year, making it the most active IPO market in the Middle East and Africa behind Israel.
Last week, Al Dawaa Medical Services Co., another pharmaceutical retailer in Saudi Arabia, said it was seeking funding of around US$500 million from an IPO.
Indeed, many family-owned businesses in Saudi Arabia are listed on the kingdom's stock exchange as the sale of shares sees huge investor demand, with most IPOs priced at the top of the offering range.
The latest wave has seen digital security firms owned by Saudi Arabia's wealth fund attract some $57 billion in orders from institutional investors.
