Saudi Arabia’s NCCI Launches $383 Million IPO

December 22, 2004

Saudi Arabia’s largest insurance company, the government controlled National Company for Co-operative Insurance (NCCI), has launched an initial public offering with the sale of seven million shares valued at $383 million.

The IPO put 70 percent of the company’s shares on the market, valued at 205 riyals ($54.70) each. NCCI is half owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with the General Organization for Social Insurance and the Retirement Pension Directorate each holding 25 percent. The IPO includes PIF’s five million shares and one million from each of the two other shareholders.

News agencies reported that NCCI executive chairman Mussa Al Rubaiaan told a press conference the company was not expecting a strong demand in the first few days. “We have two whole weeks for the IPO,” he stated.

NCCI is the first insurance company to be listed on the stock market in Saudi Arabia. According to the Gulf Daily News, which is published in Bahrain, “the practice of insurance remains controversial as some believe it conflicts with the strict rules of Islam.”

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