By Federico Macchioni

DUBAI, June 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Mutlaq Al-Ghuwairi Contracting Co. said on Tuesday it had decided not to proceed with a planned initial public offering in Riyadh, in a deal that could have raised up to about $800 million and would have been one of the first IPOs in the region since the outbreak of the Iran war.

Al Rajhi explained in a disclosure that the subscription had been oversubscribed several times at the upper limit of the price range of 12.5 riyals ($3.33) per share last week, but the company decided to withdraw the offering after consultations with its advisors.

The disclosure indicated that the company remains committed to its expansion and strategic plans and will consider various growth options while reconsidering the initial public offering at a later date.

The company was founded in 1977 and specializes in large-scale infrastructure projects for water, the transport sector, and some urban development projects.

The value of projects under implementation reached 10.6 billion riyals ($2.82 billion) by the end of March.

The shareholders were planning to offer 240 million outstanding shares to investors, representing a 30 percent stake, with Al Rajhi Capital and Morgan Stanley appointed as joint financial advisors for the offering.

The listing was expected to rank among the largest offerings in the region this year, at a time when equity capital markets in the Middle East have slowed after a strong wave of IPOs following the pandemic, driven by economic diversification programs.

Data from the London Stock Exchange Group showed that the volume of initial public offerings (IPOs) and issuances of equity-linked instruments in the Middle East and North Africa reached $427.9 million during the first quarter of this year, down 91 percent compared to the same period last year, marking the slowest start to the year in the region since 2011.

(US$1 = 3.7564 riyals)