By Timour Azhari

ROME, June 18 (Reuters) - Richard Attias, the organiser behind Saudi Arabia's flagship investment summit, says he is in no rush to list his events company on the Riyadh stock market as the Gulf's events industry seeks to recover from disruption linked to the Iran war.

Attias, whose firm Richard Attias & Associates arranges the Future Investment Initiative - Riyadh's annual gathering of world leaders and financiers dubbed "Davos in the Desert" - said market conditions were not favourable and the IPO process complex.

"We're not in a rush anymore because we know that the market conditions are not ideal," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the FII Priority Europe conference in Rome.

"When the investors will change a bit their mind, when they will be ready, we will be ready," he said.

Attias said the business had remained resilient, describing postponed events as a temporary revenue shift and expressing hope a memorandum of understanding signed this week by the U.S. and Iran to end the war would help restore normality in the Gulf. He added the firm was also diversifying geographically to reduce exposure to regional volatility.

He said he is working with Citigroup and SNB Capital on the planned share sale but declined to comment on reports valuing the company at around $1 billion.

RA&A's majority shareholder is Sanabil, an arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which owns around 75% of the company. Attias holds the remainder. The firm organises dozens of conferences globally.

The Gulf's events sector has been hit by disruption and a plunge in visitors, with airlines cancelling flights to the Middle East over safety concerns.

Cancellations of Formula 1 races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been cited by industry observers as emblematic of wider disruption to the region's sporting and events calendar. The 2026 ESports World Cup has also been moved from Riyadh to Paris.