Saudi Rasan to Sell Shares on Tadawul

Rasan’s pavilion at the Leap 24 international conference in Riyadh (from the company’s account on X)
Rasan’s pavilion at the Leap 24 international conference in Riyadh (from the company’s account on X)
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Saudi Rasan to Sell Shares on Tadawul

Rasan’s pavilion at the Leap 24 international conference in Riyadh (from the company’s account on X)
Rasan’s pavilion at the Leap 24 international conference in Riyadh (from the company’s account on X)

The Saudi Rasan Information Technology Company intends to offer 22.74 million shares on the Tadawul Stock Exchange, 10 percent of which will be allocated to individual subscribers, at the price of SAR 35-37 riyals per share.

MAGNiTT research company estimated that the market value of Rasan would reach around $750 million, after the expected offering of 30 percent of its capital in the main Saudi market (Tadawul), thus becoming one of the sector’s largest companies in the region.

Rasan is one of 216 new fintech companies that have been established in Saudi Arabia since 2016. The cumulative total of venture capital investments in this sector exceeded SAR 6.9 billion ($1.84 billion).

The company, which was founded in 2016 and operates in the financial and insurance technology sectors, achieved a compound annual growth in net profit at a rate of 332 percent between 2020 and 2023. Its revenues at the end of 2023 amounted to SAR 256 million ($68.3 million).

Rasan operates online insurance platforms such as Tameeni and Treza. In 2021 it closed an investment round of SAR 90 million led by Impact46, a Saudi alternative asset manager.

The insurance sector in Saudi Arabia has grown over the past year, as the profits of listed insurance companies increased during the first quarter of 2024 by 50 percent compared to the same period last year, to record SAR 910 million ($242 million).

On the other hand, the Rasan IPO is the seventh and last in the month of May, during which new listings were active on the Saudi Financial Market (Tadawul). The period for individuals to subscribe to the company’s shares begins on Wednesday May 29, and continues until the evening of the following day.

Saudi Arabia is looking to increase the pace of listings in the financial market, by offering 24 companies over the course of 2024, according to the annual report of the Financial Sector Development Program of Vision 2030.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.