October 2010 HSBC Saudi Arabia has acted as sole financial advisor to Al Babtain Power & Telecommunications Company (“ABP&T”) in a landmark transaction that included the first ever cash-and-shares deal involving the issuance of shares in a listed Saudi company to a foreign shareholder.
ABP&T will acquire of 49% in Al Babtain LeBLANC Telecommunication Systems Company (“ABL”) from LeBlanc Group, a Singapore based telecommunications group, in a transaction that values ABL at SAR183.1 million based on ABP&T’s closing price on 20 October 2010. The transaction is a combination of shares and cash and will result in ABP&T becoming the 100% owner in ABL. The transaction is pending approval of ABP&T’s shareholders and Saudi regulators.
“This is a landmark transaction involving the first instance of a pubalicly listed Saudi corporate issuing equity as consideration to a foreign vendor,” said Walid Khoury, CEO HSBC Saudi Arabia. “The transaction is testament to HSBC's strong M&A origination and execution capabilities in Saudi Arabia, in particular in relation to Saudi listed companies, where share transactions are rare,” he added.
HSBC is the largest and most widely-represented bank in both the Middle East and Asia, and is heavily involved in the increasing volumes of cross-border transactions between the two regions. The bank’s focus on emerging markets has seen the volume and value of debt, equity, merger and acquisition transactions between the MENA region and Asia-Pacific soar in recent years.
In Saudi Arabia, the deal further enhances HSBC’s strong relationship with ABP&T, following HSBC’s role as financial advisor to the Company on its IPO in December 2006.
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