Saudi Aramco's Luberef Set for IPO

Aramco's base oil subsidiary, Luberef, has won approval from the Kingdom's stock market regulator, Capital Market Authority (CMA), to launch its IPO. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Aramco's base oil subsidiary, Luberef, has won approval from the Kingdom's stock market regulator, Capital Market Authority (CMA), to launch its IPO. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Aramco's Luberef Set for IPO

Aramco's base oil subsidiary, Luberef, has won approval from the Kingdom's stock market regulator, Capital Market Authority (CMA), to launch its IPO. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Aramco's base oil subsidiary, Luberef, has won approval from the Kingdom's stock market regulator, Capital Market Authority (CMA), to launch its IPO. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Al-Ahli Tadawul announced a potential initial public offering (IPO) for one of Saudi Aramco's subsidiaries.

Ahli Capital announced its capacity as the underwriting manager, financial advisor, institutional underwriting book manager, international coordinator, and underwriter of Citigroup Saudi Arabia, HSBC Saudi Arabia, and Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia as the financial advisers, global coordinators, and underwriters of public offerings.

The company said that Aramco's base oil subsidiary, Luberef, has won approval from the Kingdom's stock market regulator, Capital Market Authority (CMA), to launch its IPO and list its shares on the primary market of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

Luberef is one of the world's largest producers of base oils and produces one of every eight barrels of base oils globally, with a total capacity to produce 1.3 metric tons per year of base oils.

Luberef will sell 50 million shares, or 29.7 percent of the company's issued share capital, through the IPO on the Tadawul stock exchange, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

The final pricing of the offer shares will be determined at the end of the book-building period, it stated.

The company obtained Tadawul's approval for its request to list its shares in the main market on November 24 and also received the approval of the Capital Market Authority for its bid to offer 50 million ordinary shares.

The shares are open for subscription by institutional, individual, and qualified foreign investors.

Luberef pointed out that the shares will be offered for subscription to individual and institutional investors, including institutional investors outside the US, in offshore transactions following Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act).

A maximum of 12.5 million shares, or 25 percent of the total share offering, will be allocated to individual investors, the company said.

Meanwhile, the main Saudi stock index fell 142.29 points to close at 10796.46 points, with transactions worth SR2 billion.

About 74 million shares were traded through more than 241,000 deals, in which 33 companies recorded an increase in value, while 173 companies closed in decline.

The Saudi parallel market (Nomu) plunged 300.87 points to close at 18866.13 points, with a value of SR68 million, and the number of shares reached more than 392,000 shares shared by 1157 transactions.



Egypt Approves $91 Billion Budget for 2025/26

 The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Egypt Approves $91 Billion Budget for 2025/26

 The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt's cabinet approved a 4.6 trillion Egyptian pound ($91 billion) draft state budget for the financial year that will begin in July, a government statement said on Wednesday, as it continues to tighten its finances under an IMF program.

Expenditures will rise by 18% and revenue by 19% over the current 2024/25 budget. Revenue is expected to hit 3.1 trillion pounds, working out to a deficit of about 1.5 trillion pounds ($30 billion).

The increased expenditure partly reflects elevated headline inflation, which was running at an annual 12.8% in February.

Financial reforms under an $8 billion financial reform program signed in March 2024 with the International Monetary Fund have helped Egypt bring inflation down from a peak of 38% in September 2023.

The IMF this month approved the disbursement of $1.2 billion to Egypt after its fourth review of the program.

The new budget targets a primary surplus of 795 billion pounds, equal to 4% of GDP, up from the 3.5% primary surplus originally targeted in the 2024/25 budget.

The IMF granted the government a waiver in the fourth review after the surplus came in 0.5% of GDP lower than Egypt's earlier commitment.

In its third review in June, the IMF praised Egypt for its "strict control of spending".

The new budget also lowers public debt to 82.9% of GDP from an expected 92% in 2024/25, the cabinet statement said.

The cabinet said 732.6 billion pounds in spending in the new budget would be allocated for subsidies, grants and social benefits, an increase of 15.2%.

The budget increases commodities and bread subsidies by 20% to 160 billion pounds. It will also include 75 billion pounds to subsidize petroleum products, 75 billion pounds to subsidize electricity and 3.5 billion pounds to subsidize natural gas deliveries to households, the statement added.