RIYADH, 21 June — Shares of Saudi Telecom Company (STC) are expected to be floated in the stock market in October. Only 30 percent of shares will be available for subscription and they will be restricted to Saudi investors, according to sources at STC. The largest release of the shares since 1984, the floatation will fetch between SR11 billion and SR15 billion to the public treasury, a banking source said. Finance and National Economy Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, who is also a member of the Supreme Economic Council, has said that the state would divert the sale proceeds to pay part of its public debt.

STC was separated from the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones and founded as an independent company in 1998 with a capital of SR12 billion.

Saudi economists on Wednesday said the revenue from the sales of government shares in a number of companies including huge ones listed in the Saudi share market could fetch SR187.5 billion.

Saudi Arabia has negotiated with the Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank to undertake the STC share floatation. A GIB official said the shares will be the largest public offer since 1984 when 30 percent of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation was floated. Gulf investors were also permitted to buy SABIC shares at the time.