13-04-2021
Today, the shares of Al-Faleh Educational Holding Company were listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange, as the first company to be listed in the venture market. This listing comes in the context of the Qatar Stock Exchange's commitment to provide appropriate facilities for small and medium-sized companies to access the capital markets in the State of Qatar, in line with the government's priorities in supporting the private sector's contribution to the GDP and enhancing economic diversification efforts.
It is to be noted that QSE launched the Venture market as it provides as it provides small and medium enterprises with an important source of funding that helps them grow and expand their activities and gives them the advantage of fair evaluation of shares and highlighting their brand in the market in addition to providing a framework of good governance.
The Qatar Stock Exchange has established the venture market for listing small and medium-sized companies, which enjoys easy and more flexible regulatory requirements and rules, with the aim of enabling these companies to be listed without being subject to all the requirements for listing in the main market.
With its inclusion in the venture market, Al-Faleh Educational Holding Company became the first to be listed in the venture market, the first company listed in the education sector and the first company established by a woman, Her Excellency Dr. Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh Al Thani, who is also the first woman to chair the board of directors of a company listed in Qatar.
Al-Faleh Company will be traded on a separate price broadcast screen for the venture market. Today, the shares of Al-Faleh Company were listed under the symbol FALH, and the opening price of the company's share was 1.50 Qatari riyals and the indicative price was 1 Qatari riyal, with an increase of 50%, and the highest price during the trading session reached 3.50 Qatari riyals, and the lowest price for it was 1.50 Qatari riyals at a price of 2.61 Qatari riyals.
Starting from the second day of trading the company's shares, the price will be allowed to fluctuate by 10%, up and down, as is the case with other companies listed on the market.
On this occasion, Mr. Rashid bin Ali Al-Mansoori, CEO of the Qatar Stock Exchange, expressed his happiness at launching the Stock market for small and medium-sized enterprises and listing the first company in it. He welcomed Al-Faleh Company to join the group of companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange, stressing that the inclusion of the company constitutes a new addition that would increase the market depth as it will provide investors with a new opportunity and an additional option along with the companies representing various sectors in the stock exchange.
Mr. Al-Mansoori said that QSE is making unremitting efforts to increase the number of companies listed on the stock exchange by raising awareness of the advantages of the listing in the financial markets. He said that QSE is looking forward to the inclusion of Al-Faleh Educational Holding Company as the starting point for encouraging private and family companies to transform into joint stock companies listed on the QSE.
On her part, Dr. Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh Al-Thani expressed her happiness at the listing of Al-Faleh Company on the Qatar Stock Exchange as the first company listed in the venture market and thanked the work team at the QSE for the efforts made to ensure the success of the company’s listing on the QSE and to make that a tangible reality, confirming However, the listing constitutes a milestone in the company's history and an achievement that adds to the company's reputation and position, and said it encourages private companies to transform and list in the venture market that enjoy many investment advantages.
Al-Faleh Company was established in 2000 to provide high-quality educational services from kindergarten to higher education. Since then, the company has witnessed significant growth in its business, which is the establishment of the Doha Academy and the Doha International Kindergarten, as well as the launch of the first higher education institution, AFG College, in partnership with the University of Aberdeen in September 2017.
It should be noted that Al-Faleh Company was listed through the "direct listing" mechanism, which is a common mechanism in all markets in the region, allowing companies to list without making an initial public offering of their shares.