Maaden's initial public offering oversubscribed

The Middle East's largest ever mining IPO, the SAR9.25 billion ($2.47bn) offering, by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) was oversubscribed twice, advisors of the sale said yesterday.

The IPO, which was open only for Saudi investors, defied a "challenging" context marked by the global downturn, Rupert Fane, head of equity syndicate at JP Morgan, said.

Shares in Maaden will begin trading by end-July, said a colleague of Fane who attended the conference call.