Olam Group plans to list agribusiness unit in Saudi Arabia

Olam Group, one of Asia’s biggest agricultural commodity traders, will pursue a primary listing for its agribusiness unit in Singapore and a potential concurrent listing in Saudi Arabia as early as the first half of 2023.

The proposed initial public offering of Olam Agri in Saudi Arabia would be the first listing of a global company in the country, Olam Group said in a statement on Tuesday.

The plan follows the sale of a 35 per cent stake in Olam Agri to state-owned Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Co, a subsidiary of the oil-rich country’s Public Investment Fund. The deal valued the business at about $3.5bn.

Olam Agri sells grains and seeds and makes everything from edible oils to pasta. It is one of Olam Group’s main units, formed in a reorganisation announced in early 2020. The group delayed a planned IPO in London last year for another unit, Olam Food Ingredients, citing the crisis in Ukraine.

Olam Group chief executive officer Sunny Verghese said the potential dual-listing in Singapore and Saudi Arabia would be the first of its kind. The company plans “to tap into our strong Singapore and global shareholder base whilst welcoming investors in the Middle East, a region we intend to grow further,” he said.

Olam Group has picked banks to lead the planned Singapore listing of Olam Agri that could raise as much as $1bn, Bloomberg reported last week.