Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) sold a 6 per cent stake in operator STC for SAR12 billion ($3.2 billion) through a public offering, leaving the shareholder with a stake of 64 per cent.

PIF detailed plans to sell down its huge stake earlier this month. Its original plan was to sell 100 million shares, which equates to around 5 per cent of the operator’s equity.

However, the volume available was later increased to 120 million shares based on what PIF described as a “strong level of demand received from both local and international investors”.

Shares were sold to a mixture of the public and institutional investors. Following the transactions, almost 30 per cent of STC is floated on the stock exchange.

In a statement, STC CEO Olayan Alwetaid noted the increase in the amount of publicly-traded shares would “further enhance the company’s international investment case and help make its shares accessible to a wider range of investors”.

PIF confirmed it was preparing to sell-down some of its STC stake during October, after rumours in June claiming it was assessing the level of its shareholding as part of an ongoing strategy to focus on new ventures.