Saudi wealth fund plans to sell 10% stake in stock exchange

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is selling an additional 10% stake in the kingdom’s stock exchange, pushing ahead with plans to reduce its holdings in some of the country’s biggest companies and raise funds for investments.The Public Investment Fund is offering 12mn shares in Saudi Tadawul Group Holding, according to a statement. Based on the closing price of 209.60 riyals yesterday, the deal could raise about 2.52bn riyals ($669mn). The price will be determined through an accelerated book-building process, which started immediately and the results will be announced today.Investors put in orders for all the stock on offer less than an hour after the books opened, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News.The sale comes almost a year after the stock exchange went public in a $1bn initial public offering in which the PIF sold a 30% stake. The shares have almost doubled since. Last year, the wealth fund also raised $3.2bn from the sale of a stake in Saudi Telecom Co.The PIF said in the statement that the Tadawul sale was in line with its strategy to “recycle its capital and invest in emerging and promising sectors in the local economy.”The wealth fund is at the centre of a plan by Riyadh to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy, known as Vision 2030. It has ploughed billions of dollars into stock markets and assets globally and owns stakes in domestic firms from Saudi Electricity and utility Acwa Power to Saudi National Bank.The PIF, chaired by the Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, also plans to invest $40bn locally a year until 2025 and help bankroll ambitious projects, including Neom – a $500bn city intended to attract new industries.HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley are joint global co-ordinators for the Tadawul sale. There is a 90-day lockup on the PIF following the placement.