Russia-Ukraine conflict unlikely to dent GCC’s IPO boom

Russia-Ukraine conflict unlikely to dent GCC’s IPO boom

Dubai: The booming market for initial public offerings across the GCC, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE are showing no signs of fatigue from Russia- Ukraine conflict that has adversely impacted stock markets across the world. Analysts say rising oil prices and relatively low inflation and stable economic conditions across the six oil exporting GCC states are likely to fuel the investors’ appetite for new issues. Saudi digital security company Elm Co. drew $57 billion in institutional orders for its IPO last week, almost 70 times the targeted proceeds. Pharmacy retail chain Nahdi Medical Co. gathered enough demand to cover what is set to be Saudi Arabia’s biggest IPO since oil giant Aramco within hours of opening its books, Bloomberg News reported. While abundant liquidity in the domestic markets is supporting the demand for IPOs across GCC, rising demand from foreign investors are driving up IPO demand and stock valuations. Shares in Abu Dhabi Ports Group surged 15 per cent per share on its debut on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchanges a few weeks ago. Although the war has hit equity markets across the world resulting in a slump in new equity offerings, the Gulf markets so far have remained resilient