Saudi Arabian auto rental firm Lumi hires banks for planned IPO -sources (updated)
03/04/2023 08:29
(Adds context)
By Hadeel Al Sayegh
DUBAI, April 3 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian auto rental
firm Lumi has hired Saudi Fransi Capital 1050.SE and EFG
Hermes HRHO.CA to arrange the sale of 30% of its shares in a
planned initial public offering (IPO), two sources told Reuters.
The kingdom's largest travel company Seera 1810.SE , which
owns Lumi, won approval for the float from Saudi Arabia's
Capital Market Authority (CMA) last week. Companies that secure
approval from the CMA have six months to launch their public
share sale.
Riyadh-based Lumi Rental Company has appointed Saudi Fransi
Capital as financial advisor and joint bookrunner on the
transaction, said one of the sources, declining to be named as
the matter is not public. EFG Hermes joins Saudi Fransi as joint
bookrunner, the source said.
Lumi, Saudi Fransi Capital and EFG Hermes did not
immediately respond to requests for comment when contacted by
Reuters on Monday.
Lumi has a fleet of more than 19,000 vehicles, according to
its website, and its earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 53% last year to
174 million Saudi riyal ($46.36 million), according to Seera's
financial results.
Lumi announced last September that it had opened a showroom
in Riyadh to sell its used vehicles to consumers. It said it
planned to open car showrooms in Jeddah and Dammam in the coming
months.
Saudi Arabia has been actively pressing international
companies to base themselves in the kingdom while also building
a tourism industry, which is expected to spur demand for auto
rentals.
The country's car rental market is forecast to surge to
9.8 billion riyals ($2.6 billion) by 2027 growing at a compound
annual growth rate of 8.6%, Glasgow Research & Consulting said
in a report in January.
The Middle East has been a bright spot for stock market
listings in 2022 and so far this year, with flotations from Oman
oil driller Abraj Energy ABRJ.OM and Abu Dhabi's ADNOC Gas
ADNOCGAS.AD .
Companies from the Middle East raised $21.9 billion through
IPOs in 2022, more than half the total for the wider Europe,
Middle East and Africa region, Dealogic data shows.
($1 = 3.7532 riyals)
(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh, Editing by Louise Heavens and
Susan Fenton)
((Hadeel.AlSayegh@thomsonreuters.com; +971566883310;))