RIYADH: Saudi Home Loans has raised SR1.6 billion ($423 million) from retail investors in its initial public offering on the Saudi stock exchange. The Riyadh-based company saw huge demand from retail subscribers in an offering that was 2,644 percent covered, according to a bourse filing. With 50 times oversubscription during the book-building period, the IPO was earlier priced at the top end of an indicative range of SR20 per share. The company, which is seeking to float 30 percent of its capital, is yet to disclose when it will start trading on the Saudi exchange. Operating since 2007, SHL is 40-percent owned by Arab National Bank, while the second-largest shareholder is Dar Al Arkan, with 15 percent of share capital. Such a move by the Shariah-compliant real estate lending firm is the latest in the Kingdom’s IPO wave, in a bid to enhance liquidity and scale its capital markets.