Saudi Security Firm Elm Looks At $2 Billion IPO

Elm, the digital security firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is exploring a roughly $2 billion initial public offering (IPO).

That’s according to Bloomberg News, which reported on Monday (May 10) that Elm had hired Riyad Capital to advise on the IPO. Elm hopes to sell shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange by 2022, sources told Bloomberg.

The IPO could find Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, selling off as much as a 30 percent stake, although deliberations are ongoing. Neither Elm nor the Riyad Bank commented.

“The PIF, as the wealth fund is known, and other government-controlled firms are pushing ahead with plans to raise money through selling stakes in a raft of companies over the next year,” per the report. “Two other PIF companies — stock exchange Tadawul and Acwa Power — are both expected to sell shares on the Saudi bourse this year, while Saudi Telecoms Co. and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. are planning to offer stakes in subsidiaries.”

These deals could signal that Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled companies are seeking ways to “take advantage of soaring investor demand for new offerings” while also finding ways to move the nation’s economy away from oil, according to the report.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman gave a recent interview to Saudi TV, in which he said firms like Elm should begin to sell their “mature assets.”

Elm, which has its origin in a research company started in the 1980s, has developed a host of online services for Saudi Arabia’s government, such as the Absher platform, which lets people pay things like traffic fines. It also created a system that manages the entry of international pilgrims to Mecca and Medina.

In addition to the Elm IPO, 2022 could also mark the beginning of open banking in Saudi Arabia. As PYMNTS reported in January, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority hopes to have open banking go live in the first half of next year, with a goal of advancing digital technologies and creating new financial products and services.