IPO OF L’AZURDE

INSIGHT

L’azurde is the fourth largest jewellery designer in the world, selling over one million items annually in over 25 countries. The decision to float its shares in Saudi Arabia, becoming the second largest IPO in the Middle East in 2016, therefore was a hallmark event.

The challenge: Driving positive messaging about L'azurde to the global investor community, which was watching the Saudi capital market closely, and educating the retail investor community about the company.

THE IDEA

Our strategy was to take the L’azurde story, until then confined largely to the fashion industry, to the investor community. That called for a concerted investor relations engagement programme to promote the equity story of L’azurde and highlight it in respect to the Vision 2030 strategic roadmap for Saudi Arabia to diversify the economy away from oil and to build international investor confidence.

The run-up to the IPO was backed by a regional and global media campaign reiterating the rationale of investing in L’azurde. The business strength and management credentials were underlined along with a focused outreach programme for retail investors on the offer process and structure.

IMPACT

The L’azurde IPO was hailed as a success by the media, investors and stakeholders. The institutional tranche was over-subscribed 8.6 times and the  individual tranche 2.9 times – both at the top-end of the price range, giving a market capitalisation on listing at about US$424 million. On the first day of trading, the share price closed up 7 per cent.