Saudi PIF

DUBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Oil and gas driller ADES Holding, backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, on Monday announced plans to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi Exchange.

ADES in a statement said the public share sale will comprise 338,718,754 ordinary shares, resulting in a free float of 30% after the sale of a mix of existing and newly issued shares.

The planned IPO could fetch more than $1 billion, Reuters reported in November citing two people familiar with the matter.

ADES International listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2017. In 2021, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) partnered ADES' major shareholders - ADES Investments Holding and Zamil Group Investment - to take the firm private.

That deal valued ADES at $516 million at the time.

"Since inception, ADES has grown from a local driller operating predominantly in North Africa to one of the largest drilling operators in the Middle East and North Africa region with a fleet of 85 rigs and operations spanning seven countries," ADES Chairman Ayman Abbas said in the statement.

"Our IPO will support us in continuing to deliver growth and cement our position as the leader in the jack-up drilling market in Saudi Arabia and globally," Abbas said.

ADES counts state oil giant Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) and Kuwait Oil Co as clients, as well as joint ventures with global majors including BP (BP.L) and Eni (ENI.MI), its website showed.

Selling shareholders PIF, ADES Investments Holdings and Zamil Group Investment will collectively sell 101,615,626 existing shares in proportion to their shareholding, ADES said.

It also said it will issue 237,103,128 new shares.

The Saudi government has been encouraging more state-linked and family-owned companies to list to deepen the country's capital markets as part of reform aimed at reducing reliance on oil revenue.

Share issuers from the Middle East and North Africa raised over $5 billion in the first half of this year, consultancy EY said this month, with the bulk coming from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Proceeds were down 60% compared with the first half of last year, which was an exceptionally strong year for the Gulf IPO market.

Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Jason Neely

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