Saudi Arabia’s first movie chain plans landmark IPO

A Saudi Arabian firm is seeking to become the first movie chain to list in the kingdom and has hired the investment banking arm of Banque Saudi Fransi as an adviser, people familiar with the matter said.

Muvi Cinemas expects to be valued at as much as $800m in the direct listing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

The chain may list on the smaller Nomu market as soon as this month, they said.

Muvi Cinemas and Fransi Capital declined to comment.

Saudi Arabia set out plans to remove a decades-long ban on public cinemas in late 2017, as part plans to overhaul its economy. The kingdom said at the time it wanted to reach 2,000 screens in more than 300 cinemas by 2030, with the industry expected to contribute about $24bn to the economy and add more than 30,000 permanent jobs.

Founded in 2019, Muvi is Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown cinema brand. According to its website, the firm has operations in about 10 cities and about 200 screens.

Saudi Arabian companies raised almost $9.3bn from share offerings last year, making Riyadh the most active IPO market in the Middle East and Africa behind Israel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.