Shua'a Saudi unit eyes M&As

Shuaa Capital's Saudi unit said yesterday the investment bank wanted to secure up to 13 mandates this year to advise on deals including private placements and mergers and acquisitions in the Kingdom.

"Currently, we are working on four mandates. Hopefully we will have a fifth soon," Omar Al Jaroudi, chief executive officer of Shuaa Capital Saudi Arabia, said on the sidelines of a conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

"So far we have mandates for private placements and M&A advisory. We hope to get 12-13 mandates this year," he said.

Shuaa Saudi Arabia, whose parent company is based in Dubai, is also looking at generating business from issuances of sukuk, the Islamic alternative to conventional bonds, and to tap a "very big" market for advisory on initial public offerings, Jaroudi said.

Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab economy and home to the largest Arab stock market.

Oil roughly contributes 75 per cent of Saudi budget revenues and 90 per cent of export earnings come from the oil industry.

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