Lumi Shares Soar 30% on Debut on Riyadh Stock Exchange

Shares of Saudi Arabian auto rental firm Lumi soared as much as 30% on Monday at the company’s debut on the Riyadh stock exchange in a 1.09 billion riyal ($290 million) initial public offering (IPO).

A unit of Saudi travel company Seera, Lumi listed 30% of its shares on the Saudi Tadawul exchange at an initial price of 66 riyals, at the top of their range. Prices shortly after rose to as high as 85.8 riyals per share.

Lumi is the third-largest car rental provider in the Saudi kingdom, capturing an estimated local market share of 7% in 2021, according to its IPO prospectus.

The company received more than $27 billion in bids from retail and institutional investors during its listing, according to Bloomberg, with the funds portion oversubscribed by nearly 95 times.

The strong demand for Lumi’s shares reflects the growing interest in Saudi Arabia’s stock market and the country’s economy, which is expected to grow by 7.6% in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Lumi’s IPO is also one of the largest in Saudi Arabia this year, and it comes at a time when the country is pushing to attract more foreign investment.