UAE’s investment banks back in action as IPOs and M&A deals await bumper year

UAE’s investment banks back in action as IPOs and M&A deals await bumper year

Dubai: The UAE’s investment banking scene is again becoming active with deal flows - and the prospect of fat bonuses making a return. High oil prices, a surge in IPOs, the steady rise in mergers and acquisitions, and improved prospects in the loan syndication market driven by the post-Covid economic recovery is warranting more capital expenditure corporates. The investment banking space in GCC comprise of a plethora of services such as equity capital markets (ECM), debt capital markets (DCM), loan syndications, M&A activity, private equity and brokerage. GCC investment banking activity peaked in 2007 with total fees of $5.5 billion. The global financial crisis of 2008 saw more than decade of low deal flows and fee incomes for investment banks. Despite limited improvement in DCM and M&A transactions, activity was relatively muted, which resulted in many of these banks downsizing or moving their GCC-focused staff to London, Singapore or Hong Kong. “Now, things are looking up and banks are increasing their activity and staff in the region,” said an investment banker who recently relocated to Dubai from Singapore. The Saudi Aramco’s $30 billion fund raising through an IPO in late 2019 marked the beginning of a change in the fortunes