Two sources said that Saudi Al-Sulaiman Group It is considering going public with the IKEA franchise next year, and has hired Mollis & Co. as an advisor for the process.
The two sources, who requested anonymity because the matter is not public, said that the Al-Sulaiman Group plans to invite investment banks early next year to apply for roles in the IKEA franchise offering to go public.
They added that the deliberations are still at an early stage, and it was not immediately clear how much the company intends to put up in shares or raise money in the deal.
The Al-Sulaiman Group did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by Archyde.com on Wednesday. Mollis declined to comment.
IKEA entered Saudi Arabia in 1983 through the family-owned Al Sulaiman Group, which owns and operates a Swedish furniture maker franchise in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia is encouraging more family-owned companies to list in a bid to boost capital markets as part of reforms aimed at reducing the kingdom’s dependence on oil revenues.
The kingdom has seen a surge in initial public offerings since oil giant Aramco listed for a record $29.4 billion in 2019.
The Gulf region is experiencing a boom in IPOs, too, with issuers raising more than $15 billion in IPOs this year, according to Refinitiv data.
The data showed that the region’s IPO yields in the first half of the year outpaced their European peers, even as global market volatility continued due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.