Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al-Habib’s 49% stake in his eponymous company is worth 8.5 billion riyals ($2.3 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, based on the announced selling price of 50 riyals a share.
Vast wealth and the promise of dramatic change make for cautious optimism concerning Saudi Arabia, the chief executive…
2218 Views | the publication reaches you by | Saudi Arabia TodayDr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group is one of the biggest providers of healthcare in Saudi Arabia, operating hospitals, outpatient clinics, pharmacies and medical labs throughout the kingdom, as well as in Dubai and Bahrain.
The IPO is the first in Saudi Arabia since state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco raised almost $30 billion in December.
The firm is seeking to capitalise on the government’s plans to ramp up private-sector participation in healthcare and the country’s demographic trends. Saudi Arabia’s population is disproportionately young and relatively unhealthy.
More than a third of adults are obese and 18.5% suffer from diabetes, according to World Health Organization statistics.
Al-Habib, 68, established the business in 1993 after serving as chief medical officer and head of paediatrics at two government-owned hospitals in Riyadh.
A graduate of King Saud University, he did his paediatrics fellowship at the Royal College of Physicians in the U.K. He also invests in commercial real estate through a holding company, according to the prospectus.
Very few doctors rank among the world’s richest people.
HCA Healthcare Inc. co-founder and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon Thomas Frist is the wealthiest with a net worth of $13.1 billion, according the Bloomberg index. Biotech entrepreneur and physician Patrick Soon-Shiong has a $9.2 billion fortune.
150 take part through Watani Al Emarat via the ‘Your City Needs You’ initiative Over 150 volunteers –…
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