Tadawul is Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange and the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) tracks the performance of all companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. The exchange was formed in 2007 as a joint stock company and is regulated by the Capital Market Authority (CMA), while becoming partially self-regulating since 2018. As of 10 October 2024, Tadawul lists 239 publicly traded companies on the main market. In this setting, delisting and take-private transactions matter because they remove a company from the listed universe that the market benchmark aims to represent.
A recent example helps explain the mechanics investors often see in Saudi take-private deals. Knauf International GmbH said it will launch a tender offer to acquire United Mining Industries (UMI)’s remaining shares at SAR 57 per share. The tender values the buyout at SAR 293.5 mn for over 5.1 mn shares, and the stated offer price matches the price Knauf paid for its initial stake. That initial step was an acquisition of 63.2% of UMI for SAR 504.5 mn from Al Mojel Trading & Contracting, Al Muhaidib Group, and Rashed Developments. The stated endgame is delisting UMI from Tadawul after the tender closes.
How Tender Offers, Thresholds, and Delisting Fit Together
The UMI tender shows two details that shape outcomes for minority shareholders. First, the offer has no minimum acceptance threshold, meaning Knauf will buy whatever is tendered while remaining shareholders keep their holdings if they do not accept. Second, if Knauf’s stake reaches 90%, it may seek CMA approval to exercise squeeze-out rights for the rest. In practical terms, the tender itself becomes the main liquidity event for minority holders. Those who do not tender can end up holding illiquid stock in an unlisted company once the delisting occurs.
Governance and process details also matter during a take-private and delisting pathway. In the UMI case, three board members with ties to Knauf—tax consultant Markus Haaf, GCC CEO Paul Christopher Button, and Middle East, Turkey, and Africa CEO Serge Nicolas Bekhaazi—will abstain from voting. Advisor lineups can signal how a transaction is being executed: Lazard Saudi Arabia is advising Knauf on financials, and Fahad Abuhimed, Majid Alsheikh, Mansoor Alhagbani, and Clifford Chance are advising on regulatory matters. Knauf was described as a EUR 15.6 bn German building materials group, framing the buyer profile behind this specific transaction.
For market context, TASI is a market-capitalization-weighted index and is updated continuously during trading hours, with corporate actions such as share splits having no distorting influence on the index level. The index was launched on February 27, 1985, with a base value initially set at 100 points, and later the 1985 base value was set at 1,000 points after a January 23, 1998 adjustment. On the market side, one reported TASI level is 10,450.2695 as of 2025-12-18, and historical reference points include a record high of 20,624.8398 and a record low of 1,313.58. These figures highlight why a delisting is not just a company event—it also changes what remains in the listed universe tracked by the benchmark.
What is the TASI and why does delisting matter for it?
How did Knauf price its tender offer for UMI shares?
What happens if a tender offer has no minimum acceptance threshold?
What is the key ownership threshold mentioned for a squeeze-out in this case?
What do investors typically watch in Saudi Arabia take-private transactions?
Talk to us for your needs in:
-
Due Diligence and Valuation Services
-
M&A Strategy and Advisory
-
Post-Merger Integration Management
-
Regulatory and Compliance Advisory
-
Market Entry and Expansion Consulting
-
Investment and Financial Analysis
-
In-Depth Market Survey for M&A
-
Market Intelligence and Insights in M&A
-
Feasibility Study and Assessment in M&A
-
Saudi M&A Benchmarking
