Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) plans to sell more shares in stc, which could bring in up to $1.1 billion
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is selling another 2% of its shares in Saudi Telecom Company (stc).
Selling stc Stake
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) will sell around 100 million shares in stc, according to an announcement from SNB Capital and Goldman Sachs Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. They are the main coordinators of the sale.
The price of the shares will be set through a quick pricing process that started on Wednesday. The final number of shares, the price, and the results of the sale will be announced on Thursday.
The sale will happen through private deals before the market opens on Thursday. stc will not receive any money from this sale.
After the sale, PIF will still own 62% of stc. In 2021, the PIF sold 6% of its stc shares for $3.2 billion.
On Wednesday, stc shares closed down by 0.36% at $10.98 (SAR 41.25). Based on this price, the sale could raise up to $1.1 billion (SAR 4.125 billion).
Q3 Results
The telecommunications company reported a 3.4% increase in revenue for the third quarter, reaching $4.97 billion (SAR 18.64 billion). This growth was mainly due to higher earnings from its subsidiaries. However, net profit dropped by 5.3% to $1.2 billion (SAR 4.6 billion).
For the first nine months of the year, revenue grew by 3.9% to $15.1 billion (SAR 56.6 billion), mainly from higher income from its subsidiaries. Net profit during this period increased by 1.9% to $2.99 billion (SAR 11.2 billion).
Key background
Earlier in November, MBC Group announced that its shareholder, Istedamah Holding Company, has agreed to sell its 54% share in MBC to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for $2 billion (SAR 7.5 billion). This deal will give PIF control of MBC as the majority shareholder.
PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan mentioned in October that the fund plans to reduce its foreign investments to 18-20% of its total portfolio, down from 30%, to focus more on the local economy.
Published: 14th November 2024
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