Six Saudi IPO approvals expire with no prospectus

Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority approved seven Main Market initial public offerings between 26 November 2025 and 31 March 2026, but only one, Dar Albalad for Business Solutions, has a prospectus on its register. For the other six, the approval has run out.

Each approval carried the same condition: it is valid for six months from the board's resolution and "shall be deemed cancelled if the offering and listing of the Company's shares are not completed within this period", as the approval notice for Berain and the others put it. This series looks at who is next to list in the Gulf and on what terms; part 1 starts with the region's largest market.

Seven approvals, one prospectus

Approved	Company	Shares offered (stake)	Six months end	Prospectus on CMA register	Approval
26 Nov 2025	Alandalus Education	24.9m (30%)	May 2026	None	CMA
31 Dec 2025	Mutlaq Al-Ghowairi Contracting	240m (30%)	June 2026	None	CMA
31 Dec 2025	Dar Albalad for Business Solutions	21m (30%)	June 2026	Published 7 May 2026	CMA
31 Dec 2025	AlDyar AlArabia Real Estate Development	97.5m (30%)	June 2026	None	CMA
31 Mar 2026	Petrolube Oil	9m (30%)	September 2026	None	CMA
31 Mar 2026	Facilities Management	42m (30%)	September 2026	None	CMA
31 Mar 2026	Berain	66m (30%)	September 2026	None	CMA

Every approval was for 30 per cent of the company's share capital. Dar Albalad's prospectus is dated 7 May. The only other 2026 company prospectus on the register that is not for a rights issue or a sukuk programme is that of Saleh Abdulaziz Al Rashed and Sons, dated 9 February. The authority's announcements reviewed by Boards and Capital include no new Main Market flotation approval since 31 March and no extension of the six expired approvals; two items in the numbered series could not be opened. Argaam's list of upcoming offerings still shows Berain, Facilities Management and Petrolube as flotations of 66 million, 42 million and 9 million shares with no subscription dates.

The parallel market and the rulebook

The parallel market, Nomu, has drawn smaller deals confined to qualified investors. The authority approved Kesay Clinics on 31 December 2025 (2 million shares, 5 per cent of capital), Khayrat on 16 March (250,000 shares, 23.81 per cent), MSGA Investment on 31 March (11.1 million shares, 10 per cent), BaraSeen Medical on 24 June (3.3 million shares, 17.10 per cent), and Arabian Romoz and AlManhal on 29 June (950,000 shares, 11.95 per cent, and 900,000 shares, 15 per cent), according to its notices for Kesay, Khayrat, MSGA, BaraSeen, Arabian Romoz and AlManhal. It widened the Nomu investor base in November 2025, letting holders of a bachelor's degree in some securities-related subjects qualify, its notice says, and on 2 April approved a framework for special purpose acquisition companies to list there, effective on publication.

The terms for Main Market flotations are also changing. In February the authority consulted on letting subsidiaries of Main Market companies list their shares directly, without an initial public offering, to cut time and cost, until 27 March (consultation). On 22 September it proposed provisions that would tie book-building orders to investors' liquidity and ability to pay, and require the underwriting agreement to be in force, and the underwriter's obligation to buy all offered shares to apply, from the start of book-building. The final version is due to take effect on 2 November, the authority's notice says.

What the pipeline shows

On the published record reviewed here, no Main Market flotation approval remains within its six months, so the next one would be cleared, and its book built, under the new provisions. The six companies whose approvals ran out would face the new underwriting terms if they return. The authority's most recent approval of a share offering by a listed company was a rights issue, Almasane Alkobra Mining's SAR 680 million on 5 October (notice). Part 2 of this series turns to the Abu Dhabi and Dubai exchanges.