Richard Attias & Associates, in which the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has owned a majority stake since 2019, said it will go public in Riyadh next year.
The firm’s namesake founder told Semafor, “We are in the IPO readiness process. It will happen in 2026, definitely.”
He said he expects to have a clearer view of the firm’s valuation by the end of the year but declined to provide financial details.
PIF owns the stake in the firm through its subsidiary Sanabil that focuses on venture capital investments. It has offices in Beijing, Dakar, Dubai, New York, and Paris.
Richard Attias & Associates is the organizer of the kingdom’s flagship conference, the Future Investment Initiative (FII), known as “Davos in the desert”.
Since its debut in 2017, FII has been bringing the world’s biggest names in business and finance to Riyadh each October.
The forthcoming edition will bring together the likes of BlackRock’s Larry Fink, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser in Riyadh from Oct. 28 to Oct. 31, focusing on energy, climate change, investment, artificial intelligence, and policy.
FII’s smaller editions are held in Brazil, Europe, and the US. The firm also organizes cultural and sporting events like the opening of the men’s soccer Africa Cup of Nations and the Mayor’s Summit during the COP21 climate conference in Paris.
The IPO aligns with Saudi’s PIF strategy to list key assets and reinvest in new ventures. PIF chairman and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the fund should sell shares in companies it controls as they grow and reinvest the proceeds in new ventures.
PIF is working on several IPOs that could occur over the next year including cybersecurity firm Saudi Information Technology Co. and Saudi Global Ports.
Attias is also shaping the debut BRIDGE Summit (Dec 8–10, 2025, Abu Dhabi) under the UAE’s National Media Office — redefining the future of media through partnerships and innovation.
Attias was a former executive producer of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos from 1996 to 2008.
