Two publicly traded Saudi petrochemical firms, Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) and National Petrochemical (Petrochem), announced on the Tadawul exchange on 20 September that they are discussing a potential deal to merge the two companies. SIIG is already the largest shareholder in Petrochem with a 50% stake.

The companies say they are going to “study the economic feasibility of merging the two companies,” while caveating that entering discussions “does not necessarily mean that the deal will take place.” Indeed, the companies entered into talks about a similar merger in 2011 without concluding a deal. (CONTINUED - 770 WORDS)