RIYADH, 30 November 2002 — The government has announced the rules for buying shares in the Saudi Telecom Company sale. An awareness campaign is also being launched to inform the public about the rules.
The plan to sell off a third of the stock in STC, the first in the government’s massive privatization plans, was unveiled earlier this month.
The sale starts on Dec. 17 and ends on Jan. 6. Two thirds of the 90 million shares being placed on the market will be sold to individuals; only Saudi citizens can apply to buy. The remaining third is to be sold to General Organization for Social Insurance and the Public Pension Fund. The shares, with a nominal value of SR50 each, are being sold at SR170 apiece.
The awareness campaign will explain how to complete application forms, where to obtain additional information about STC and the basic mechanics of buying and selling shares on the local stock market.
According to Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, minister of finance and the national economy, share applications can be lodged with any branch of any bank in the Kingdom.
The detailed prospectus will be available from banks and published on the STC web page as soon as the process of subscription starts. An abridged prospectus was published together with IPO (initial public offering) announcement on Nov. 24.
Dr. Al Assaf said that although the initial offer is restricted to Saudi citizens, Saudi banks, funds, companies, and other institutions as well as GCC nationals will be able to acquire shares after they start to be traded on Tadawul, the Saudi stock market.
In the event of the flotation being oversubscribed, subscribers will be given a minimum of 10 shares each, with the remaining shares being divided among applicants on a pro-rate basis; subscribers will be given a percentage of their applications.
The final number of shares allocated to each subscriber together with any refunds is expected to be completed within a month of the sale ending on Jan. 6. It is anticipated that trading of STC shares will commence in mid-February.
