Olayan family said to shelve Saudi IPO plans

The Olayan family, owner of Olayan Financing Co., is putting on hold plans to sell shares in some of its local assets, amid slow economic growth in the kingdom, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Olayan Financing had been planning an initial public offering (IPO) of a holding company of about 20 local units, which could be worth as much as $5 billion.

Plans for the listing could be revived in the future, the sources said.

Olayan had hired Saudi Fransi Capital for the planned IPO, which could have happened as early as next year.

The conglomerate had also been working with HSBC Holdings Plc’s local unit on the 30 percent sale of its Health Water Bottling Co.

Founded by Suliman Olayan in 1947, Olayan Group manages more than 40 companies in the Middle East, including the regional Burger King franchise.

It also owns real estate assets including 550 Madison Avenue in New York City, the Knightsbridge Estate in central London, and residential buildings in Paris’s 8th arrondissement, according to its website.