IT services firm to be Qatar's first to use book building for IPO

DUBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Qatari IT services firm MEEZA

will be the first company in the country to use book building to

carry out an initial public offering, it said in a statement on

Sunday, as Qatar aligns itself with international practices. The company, part-owned by telecom operator Ooredoo

, said it is selling 50% of its share capital in a

public-share sale with a planned listing on the Qatar Stock

Exchange. The IPO process, which begins this month, will allow the

company to offer a price range to test investors' appetite and

determine the IPO price. The offering's price range is between 2.61 riyals ($0.7135)

to 2.81 riyals per share, which could raise between 846 million

and 911 million riyals. Qatar introduced the regulations for book building in

February 2021 to help entice foreign investors and elevate its

status towards a developed market. Until now, the standard practice in Qatar has been for a

company to set a price based on feedback from two independent

valuation reports. In its statement, MEEZA said the book building would follow

regulator the Qatar Financial Markets Authority's offering and

listing regulations, including "a set of new procedures that

would provide additional options for companies wishing to offer

and list in the financial market".

($1 = 3.6580 Qatar riyals)

(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; editing by Barbara Lewis)