SABIC mulls offering 10-20% of specialty chemicals unit by 2021-end or early 2022: sources

SABIC Building

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) is planning to offer a stake ranging between 10-20% of its specialty chemicals unit, CNBC Arabia reported, quoting two banking sources.

This will enable SABIC to raise between $400-800 million, the sources said, adding that the offering process is subject to obtaining Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s (Saudi Aramco) approval.

The offering process might take place by the end of this year or early next year at the latest.

It is possible to speed up the process according to what is deemed necessary by the regulatory authorities, the sources indicated.

HSBC and Morgan Stanley are acting as global coordinators for the planned offering, while AlAhli Capital will be the offering manager after advising on the process. JP Morgan is among the banks that can also work on the potential deal.

Last November, Bloomberg reported that SABIC is considering an initial public offering (IPO) of its specialty chemicals unit, valued at billions of dollars, according to data compiled by Argaam.

In 2016, SABIC announced the company’s restructuring that included transferring responsibilities of core products in the innovative plastics strategic business unit and the specialized chemicals unit to the polymers and chemicals strategic business units.

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