Throughout February, speculation has been mounting over which banks will be mandated on the flotation of Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Aramco. The country is expected to list just 5% of Aramco, but with a valuation of around $2000bn it is tipped to be the biggest ever initial public offering (IPO).
Attention has centred on the bulge bracket firms fighting for lead roles, but some local banks are expected to be appointed, too. Saudi’s leading banks all have corporate and investment banking (CIB) divisions that could be in contention.
The Middle East’s biggest bank is Jeddah-headquartered National Commercial Bank, which has $14.694bn of Tier 1 capital. Its CIB arm, NCB Capital, worked on the sovereign’s debut bond – a $17.5bn issuance last October. In February, CIB chief executive Sarah Al Suhaimi made history by becoming the first woman appointed to chair the national stock exchange (though it is not yet clear if she will retain her role at NCB Capital).
Saudi’s second biggest bank is Al Rajhi Bank, which has $12.437bn of Tier 1 capital and a CIB subsidiary called Al Rajhi Capital. This is followed by Samba Financial Group, which holds $10.73bn of Tier 1 capital. In February, Samba appointed Rania Nashar as group CEO, making it the first Saudi commercial bank to be led by a woman.
In fourth and fifth place are Riyad Bank and Saudi British Bank (SABB). Their investment banking divisions – Riyad Capital and HSBC Saudi Arabia, respectively – are rumoured to have been hired by Aramco for a bond sale before its IPO, which is anticipated in 2018.
All data sourced from www.thebankerdatabase.com
