Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has approved Americana Restaurants International Company’s application for the concurrent and dual listing of 2.527 billion shares, or 30% of capital, on Saudi Arabia and UAE stock exchanges, the market regulator said in a statement.

The statement said this would be the first dual offering on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul).

The decision to subscribe to foreign companies may involve a high risk that requires examining several regulations and instructions related to Tadawul and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

Americana Restaurants’ prospectus and prospectus supplement will be published within sufficient time prior to the start of the subscription period.

Founded in Kuwait in 1964, Americana Group owns franchise rights for several brands that also include Baskin Robbins, Krispy Creme, Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Hardee's. It operates a network of more than 1,800 restaurants in the Middle East, North Africa and CIS.

The company was previously trading its shares on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. In 2017, Americana delisted from the Kuwaiti bourse.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com)