Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. Photo: Americana
Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. Photo: Americana
Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. Photo: Americana
Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. Photo: Americana

Americana IPO: restaurant group raises $1.8bn from oversubscribed offering


Massoud A Derhally
  • English
  • Arabic

Americana, the largest quick-service restaurant operator in the Mena region, has raised $1.8 billion from its initial public offering, which will result in the company listing on the Arab world's two largest stock markets.

The company sold more than 2.52 billion shares, or 30 per cent stake of its issued share capital, with the IPO drawing strong demand from institutional and retail investors that generated $105 billion of orders. It was approximately 58 times oversubscribed, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The price range was set at the higher end of Dh2.62 in the UAE and 2.68 Saudi riyals ($0.71) a share, implying an equity value for the group of $6.01 billion.

Last week, the company doubled the size of its UAE retail tranche in its IPO to 10 per cent due to strong demand.

The retail segment of its offering in Saudi Arabia was also 10 per cent of the total offering. The institutional investors tranche was reduced to 80 per cent, from 85 per cent of the total offering.

Americana will be dually listed on Saudi Arabia's Tadawul bourse and the UAE's Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Shares are expected to start trading on or around December 6.

Americana is Saudi Arabia's largest IPO this year and the first company to be dually listed in the kingdom and the UAE.

Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. The company is the latest among regional companies seeking to raise funds through equity markets amid higher oil prices, greater liquidity and strong investor confidence.

It is the largest out-of-home dining operator in 12 countries across the Mena region and Kazakhstan and operates restaurant chains such as Pizza Hut and KFC.

Unlike global markets that have had subdued investor sentiment amid soaring inflation and rising recession fears, the Mena region has had strong IPO activity in 2021 and this year.

The region had 24 IPOs in the first half of this year. The UAE was the biggest IPO market in terms of the aggregate value of deals while Saudi Arabia led in terms of volume with five IPO deals in the first six months of the year, according to EY data.

Middle East IPOs have raised $18 billion this year, the highest share for the Gulf region after 2019, when Saudi Aramco went public in a $29 billion offering, the world’s largest, according to Bloomberg data.

Saudi Arabia's main Tadawul exchange had two IPOs and the Nomu-Parallel Market drew three, which raised $490 million in proceeds in the third quarter.

Americana intends to maintain a “robust dividend policy” and make a partial dividend distribution of about 75 per cent of its net profit attributable to the parent company for the second half of this year.

It expects to pay the dividend in cash during the first half of next year.

From 2023, the company intends to adopt an annual dividend distribution policy and plans to distribute a minimum of 50 per cent of its profit in dividends.

Rothschild & Co acted as independent financial adviser on the IPO while First Abu Dhabi Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and SNB Capital were joint global co-ordinators and financial advisers.

FAB was the lead manager and listing adviser in the UAE while SNB Capital was lead manager in Saudi Arabia.

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

'The Batman'

Stars:Robert Pattinson

Director:Matt Reeves

Rating: 5/5

WandaVision

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany

Directed by: Matt Shakman

Rating: Four stars

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Tips to keep your car cool
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  • Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

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Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm) 
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm) 
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm) 
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn  (4.30pm) 
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm) 
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)

Sunday, May 17

Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)

Monday, May 18

Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)

MATCH INFO

RB Leipzig 2 (Klostermann 24', Schick 68')

Hertha Berlin 2 (Grujic 9', Piatek 82' pen)

Man of the match Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin

Company%20profile
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The Bio

Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride

She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.

Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years

Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves

She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in

Updated: November 25, 2022, 3:09 AM`