DUBAI — Qatari IT services firm MEEZA will be the first company in the country to use book-building to carry out an initial public offering, it said in a statement on Sunday, as Qatar aligns itself with international practices.
The company, part-owned by telecom operator Ooredoo , said it was selling 50% of its share capital in a public-share sale with a planned listing on the Qatar Stock Exchange.
The IPO process, which begins this month, will allow the company to offer a price range to test investor appetite and determine the IPO price.
The offering’s price range is between 2.61 riyals ($0.7135) to 2.81 riyals per share, potentially raising between 846 million and 911 million riyals.
Qatari investment bank QInvest is acting as listing advisor and offering manager on the deal, it said.
Qatar introduced regulations for book-building in February 2021 to help attract foreign investors and elevate its status towards a developed market.
Until now, the standard practice in Qatar has been for a company to set a price based on feedback from two independent valuation reports.
In its statement, MEEZA said the book building would follow the regulator Qatar Financial Markets Authority’s offering and listing regulations, including “a set of new procedures that would provide additional options for companies wishing to offer and list in the financial market.” ($1 = 3.6580 Qatar riyals) (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; editing by Barbara Lewis and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
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