Khaleej Times, Tuesday, Jan 24, 2023 | Rajab 2, 1444
IPO market for UAE, region looking strong, say experts
Emirates:
The IPO pipeline is looking strong for 2023 as well following a large number of
companies going public last year, industry executives said on Monday.
In 2022, around $22 billion were raised through public offerings in the region,
out of which $8 billion were raised in Dubai.
Last year was phenomenal for Dubai equity and capital markets with IPO coming
from the emirate’s top-notch companies including Salik Company, Dubai
Electricity and Water Authority and Tecom Group. All the IPOs witnessed strong
demand from both retail and institutional investors, resulting in overbookings.
Mohammed Al Bastaki, CEO, Emirates NBD Capital, said the momentum that started
last year will continue in 2023.
“We see strong activity in 2023 as the privatisation programme continues. As the
private sector, family-owned businesses and the Dubai Economic Agenda “D33”
evolve, they will have impacts on the market,” Al Bastaki said during the panel
discussion on the first day of the inaugural Mena IPO Summit.
Shaikha Almarri, head of government and corporate, HSBC, said the healthy IPO
pipeline reflects that companies have access to capital markets.
“Dubai is a diverse economy and provides interesting stories for companies to
set up here with healthy capital markets to back economic activity,” said
Almarri.
Saeed Al Awar, head of the Middle East, managing director, Rothschild & Co, also
expects the momentum to continue this year.
“We are positive on the capital market. Globally, we are hoping for less
volatility and more stable rates.”
Ali Khalpey, head of equity capital markets, EFG Hermes, said 2022 ended with
strong issuances and market performance was exciting.
“We continue to see a strong pipeline of companies for IPOs in the UAE and
region. The second half is going to be more encouraging for us,” he said during
the panel discussion.
International firms to list
Emirates NBD Capital’s Mohammed Al Bastaki expects international companies to
look at listing in Dubai as the emirate offers the best logistics capabilities,
access to talent and further development in regulatory frameworks.
“We see a lot of fund managers to set up in Dubai as well.”
Saeed Al Awar, head of Middle East, managing director, Rothschild & Co, said
this year will see volatility stabilising and the region continue to be a safe
haven politically, unlike Europe which is experiencing strikes in different
countries.
“Growth of foreign direct investment is significant and the region as a whole is
growing at a meaningful rate when the world is feared to go through recession…
There are multiple international companies that are headquartered in Dubai and
there is no reason those companies should not be listed on the Dubai bourse,” Al
Awar added.