Saudi Arabia’s Jadwa Investment divests stake in Luberef through IPO on Tadawul

Saudi private equity investor Jadwa Investment (Jadwa) has fully divested Jadwa Industrial Investment Company’s 30 per cent stake in the Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company – Luberef through a public offering of its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

Luberef is one of the largest base oil producers in the world and a leading supplier of high-quality base oils to regional and international markets.

The company serves its clients through two production facilities strategically located in the port cities of Jeddah and Yanbu.

Over the course of Jadwa’s investment, Luberef more than doubled its annual base oil production volumes to approximately 1.2 million tonnes by expanding its Yanbu refinery and introduced Group II base oil production to Saudi Arabia. In 2021, Luberef recorded over SAR8.8bn in revenue and SAR2.1bn in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) .

Tariq Al-Sudairy, MD and CEO of Jadwa Investment, said: “Jadwa is proud to have played a role in Luberef’s transformative journey alongside our partners at Saudi Aramco. The company is a clear market leader and a representation of Saudi manufacturing ingenuity. Luberef’s growth story exemplifies Jadwa’s focus on long-term value creation. We are excited for the opportunities this listing presents for Luberef and for Saudi Arabia’s capital markets”.

Elie Elkhoury, head of Private Equity at Jadwa Investment, added, “This landmark transaction is a significant milestone in Jadwa’s private equity practice, being our third private equity exit in the last 18 months and our third private equity exit through an IPO on the Saudi Stock Exchange since Jadwa’s inception. Luberef is a leader in the base oil industry and we are honoured to have created tangible value for our investors whilst helping to successfully deliver one of the largest IPOs in Saudi Arabia in recent years.”

The Luberef IPO marks the firm’s eighth private equity exit, and at SAR5bn the offering brings Jadwa’s aggregate private equity distributions to clients to SAR11bn.