Credit Suisse, Mizuho Join Banks on $1 Billion Olam Agri IPO

(Bloomberg) --

Credit Suisse Group AG and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. have joined the lineup of banks working on the listing of Olam Group’s agricultural business in Singapore and Saudi Arabia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

EFG Hermes and SNB Capital have also been added as joint bookrunners on Olam Agri’s planned dual-listing that could raise as much as $1 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Singapore-headquartered Olam, one of Asia’s biggest agricultural commodity traders, plans to announce its intention to float the agricultural business in the first half, the people said. Citigroup Inc., DBS Group Holdings Ltd., HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley are already working on the deal, Bloomberg News reported in January.

Representatives for Olam, Credit Suisse, EFG Hermes, Mizuho and SNB Capital declined to comment.

Olam Agri is set to be the first global company to list in Riyadh in what would be a win for the kingdom’s stock exchange, which has been seeking to attract international firms. Last year, Americana Restaurants International Plc. raised $1.8 billion in the first dual-listing in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Rothschild & Co. is Olam’s independent financial adviser, the company said in January.

A Riyadh listing would allow Olam Agri tap into the Middle East’s IPO boom, which has been gathering steam. 2022 was a blowout year for regional listings that fetched almost $23 billion in the second-highest year on record. Most of the offerings were in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

By comparison, Singapore hasn’t had a $1 billion IPO since 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Listings in the city have raised just $42 million over the past year, the data show.

In March, Olam Group sold a 35% stake in Olam Agri to Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Co., a subsidiary of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund in a deal that valued the business at about $3.5 billion.

Olam Agri, which sells grains and seeds and makes everything from edible oils to pasta, is one of Olam Group’s main units. It was created in a reorganization in early 2020. The Gulf region is a growing market for the commodities it supplies and Saudi Arabia is putting a strong emphasis on food security.

Olam Group last year delayed a London IPO of another unit, Olam Food Ingredients, citing concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(Updates details on Rothschild in sixth paragraph)

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Author: Julia Fioretti and Archana Narayanan