Saudi Main Market IPO Market Leadership

No. 1 legal adviser to issuers by number of completed Main Market IPOs
16 completed IPOs | 25.4 per cent. share by number | 1 January 2021 to 31 August 2026

From 1 January 2021 to 31 August 2026, STAT acted as legal adviser to the issuer on 16 of the 63 Saudi Main Market IPOs completed during the period. This represented 25.4 per cent. of completed Main Market IPOs by number, more issuer-side Main Market IPO mandates than any other law firm.

STAT’s lead was even stronger during the more recent period from 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2026. During that period, STAT acted as legal adviser to the issuer on 11 of the 37 completed Saudi Main Market IPOs, representing 29.7 per cent. of the market by number.

The underlying review covers all Saudi Main Market IPOs completed between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2026. STAT was joint No. 1 across the full review period and the outright No. 1 from 1 January 2021.

Source: STAT analysis of publicly available Capital Market Authority prospectuses and Saudi Exchange IPO and listing information. Data as of 31 August 2026. Market share is calculated by number of completed IPOs, not by offer value.

Saudi IPO and Equity Capital Markets

STAT advises on the full range of Saudi equity capital markets transactions, including:

• Main Market IPOs;
• Nomu IPOs;
• transfers from Nomu to the Main Market;
• follow-on offerings and secondary share sales;
• rights issues and other equity capital raisings;
• private placements and direct listings;
• Rule 144A and Regulation S offerings;
• demergers and listed-company restructurings;
• public M&A involving Saudi-listed companies; and
• securities regulation, corporate governance and continuing obligations.

 

Our Equity Capital Markets practice is led by Robert Vydra, Partner and Head of Equity Capital Markets, who has focused on Saudi ECM transactions since 2007 and has led and advised on more than 70 public and private securities offerings, M&A transactions and landmark Sukuk issuances.

We act for issuers, selling shareholders, financial advisers and underwriters. This experience enables us to understand the objectives, responsibilities and execution pressures affecting each principal side of a Saudi IPO.

Full-Lifecycle Saudi IPO Advice

We support clients throughout the complete IPO process, including:

• assessing IPO readiness and identifying execution risks;
• selecting and implementing the appropriate offering structure;
• undertaking pre-IPO corporate reorganisations;
• conducting legal due diligence;
• drafting and verifying the prospectus;
• preparing corporate governance and board structures;
• negotiating underwriting and other transaction documentation;
• advising on Rule 144A and Regulation S requirements;
• managing engagement with the Capital Market Authority and Saudi Exchange;
• supporting institutional bookbuilding, allocation and listing;
• advising on foreign-investor readiness; and
• assisting with continuing disclosure and other post-listing obligations.

 

Our objective is not merely to complete the legal documentation. We help clients identify material issues early, resolve them directly and protect the transaction timetable and intended market window.

Recent Saudi IPO Experience

Recent publicly announced issuer-side transactions on which STAT’s Equity Capital Markets team has advised include:

• L’azurde Company for Jewelry
• Leejam Sports Company
• Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies Company
• Theeb Rent a Car Company
• Tanmiah Food Company
• Naqi Water Company
• Arabian Drilling Company
• Almawarid Manpower Company
• Morabaha Marina Financing Company
• Lumi Rental Company
• Saudi Manpower Solutions Company
• Al Taiseer Group TALCO Industrial Company
• Tamkeen Human Resources Company
• Arabian Company for Agricultural and Industrial Investment
• United Carton Industries Company
• Marketing Home Group for Trading Company
• Cherry Trading Company
• Saleh Abdulaziz Al Rashed & Sons Company

 

These transactions span the Main Market and Nomu and include domestic offerings, international Regulation S offerings, IPO-related corporate reorganisations and transfers from Nomu to the Main Market.

Landmark Saudi and GCC Capital Markets Experience

The broader experience of our lawyers, including transactions completed before joining or co-founding STAT, includes:

• the US$29.4 billion Saudi Aramco IPO;
• the first demerger by way of an IPO by a Saudi-listed company;
• the first Rule 144A securities offering by a Saudi corporate issuer;
• the first high-yield Sukuk offering by a GCC issuer;
• the first Sukuk in the GCC to qualify as bank capital for regulatory purposes; and
• the first public M&A transaction in Saudi Arabia.

 

Our team’s experience extends from the formative years of the Saudi Capital Market Law through the development of the Main Market, Nomu, international offerings, public M&A and the increasingly sophisticated disclosure and governance requirements applying to Saudi issuers.

Debt Capital Markets and Sukuk

STAT also advises issuers, originators, arrangers, dealers, investors and other market participants on Saudi domestic and cross-border debt capital markets transactions.

Our experience includes:

• standalone Sukuk and debt instrument issuances;
• Sukuk and debt issuance programmes;
• Regulation S and Rule 144A offerings;
• regulatory capital instruments;
• secured and unsecured issuances;
• private placements;
• liability-management transactions;
• debt capitalisations;
• special purpose entity structures; and
• ongoing regulatory and disclosure matters.

 

Our debt capital markets capability is supported by the firm’s Islamic finance, banking, corporate, regulatory and tax practices. This integrated approach enables us to address the legal, Shariah, regulatory, structural and execution issues arising on complex Saudi and international issuances.

Partner-Led Execution

Our capital markets transactions are led directly by experienced partners who remain actively involved throughout the matter.

We combine:

• detailed knowledge of Saudi law and market practice;
• extensive experience dealing with the Capital Market Authority and Saudi Exchange;
• Arabic and English drafting capability;
• international securities-law experience;
• practical transaction management;
• senior involvement in prospectus drafting and verification; and
• an integrated approach across corporate, finance, regulatory and Islamic finance workstreams.

 

STAT’s Equity Capital Markets team was named Equity Capital Markets Legal Adviser of the Year at the Capital Markets & ESG Finance Saudi Arabia Awards 2026, having previously received the corresponding recognition for 2023 at the awards ceremony held in 2024.