ACWA Power's shares rise by 30% in debut on Tadawul, raising PIF market value

 Riyadh-based ACWA, nearly half-owned by the Saudi sovereign fund (PIF) saw its shares jump by 30 percent on debut on the Saudi stocks exchange (Tadawul) on October 11.

The market value of the company has increased by $3 billion in the first few minutes of trading, Alarabiya reported.

ACWA is selling an 11.1 percent stake at SR56 ($14.93) apiece, the top end of the offer range. The shares will be trading under the utilities sector in Tadawul.

ACWA Power shares listing raises the market value of the PIF's investment portfolio by an expected SR18.1 billion ($4.8 billion), bringing its total portfolio to SR488.8 billion, according to the closing of October 7.

The company will be valued at $10.9 billion and the PIF will continue to own a 44 percent stake after the IPO equivalent to 323 million shares.

The value of the portfolio is likely to rise well during the first days of the stock's trading in the market with the usual rises for the shares at the beginning of their listing, according to Tadawul, especially that the daily price fluctuation limits will be set at 30 percent during the first three sessions.

The $1.2 billion IPO drew interest from investors looking for exposure to a business seen as key to the kingdom’s plans to diversify its economy away from oil. 

Initial demand for the shares amounted to $300 billion dollars and advisers had to limit institutional investors’ allocations.