The Middle East’s biggest broadcaster, MBC Group, has tapped two top banks to work on its initial public offering in Riyadh, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were selected to work on the IPO, which could come as soon as next year, the report said.
The Saudi government owns a 60% stake in MBC and the rest is held by founder and chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim, one of the kingdom’s richest businessmen.
MBC was launched in London in 1991, then moved to its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 before relocating to Riyadh in September 2022. The broadcaster’s relocation to the Kingdom was a move that the company hopes will boost its stated mission to serve as a driver to kickstart the kingdom’s nascent film and TV industry.
“We know that being based here in Riyadh will only make us stronger and more accomplished, elevating our projects to even higher grounds that match our immense ambitions,” the MBC Group chair said in September.
The government’s control of MBC was acquired after Al-Ibrahim was among detained at Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton in 2017 as part of what the government called an anti-corruption campaign, Bloomberg notes. The government took control of 60% of MBC — including shares belonging to the family of entrepreneur Saleh Kamel — while Al Ibrahim retained his 40% share.
MBC now includes 20 TV channels and video-streaming service Shahid VIP.
The potential listing of MBC follows on a hot streak of IPOs on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul and Nomu public markets.
