By Federico Maccioni
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabian healthcare group SMC Hospitals has hired banks for a potential initial public offering (IPO) on the local bourse this year, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The hospital operator has picked banks including EFG Hermes and SNB Capital to work on the offering, two of the sources said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
One of the sources said that SMC Hospitals, which operates two hospitals in the capital city Riyadh with one more under construction, is looking to announce plans for the IPO before the summer.
SMC Hospitals, EFG Hermes and SNB Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Stock markets in the Gulf have seen a wave of IPOs in recent years, aided by government efforts to diversify their economies away from oil.
Saudi Arabia, which is investing heavily in sectors like healthcare under its Vision 2030 economic transformation plan, recorded the largest volume of offerings in the region last year.
Healthcare firm Fakeeh Care Group raised around $760 million in 2024’s largest offering in the kingdom, while Almoosa Health debuted last month.
Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange expects a record year for listings, CEO Mohammed Al-Rumaih told Reuters earlier this week, adding 15 IPO applications have been approved.
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni, editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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