Baker & McKenzie affiliate advises NCB

advisors and lead managers of The National Commercial Bank (NCB) on their IPO. NCB, Saudi’s largest lender, raised USD 6 billion making the deal the second-largest IPO in the world this year and the highest ever equity sale in the Middle East. The deal surpassed the USD 5 billion raised by Dubai’s DP World in 2007. The firm advised GIB Capital and HSBC Saudi Arabia as financial advisors and lead managers on the deal, which sees 25 percent of the bank floated. Riyadh-based partner Karim Nassar led the team and was assisted by counsel, Robert Eastwood.

The IPO features a unique allocation of shares designed to provide the Saudi Arabian public with the opportunity to invest alongside the government, both through subscribing individually to the offered shares, and through allocating 200 million shares to the PPA. In addition, although subscription to the IPO is limited to Saudi nationals, it has garnered significant interest from international investors as a result of the upcoming changes to Saudi Arabian regulation that would allow registered international institutional investors to invest in Saudi-listed companies.