Book building to be game changer for Qatar’s capital market

Book building to be game changer for Qatar’s capital market

Qatar - The book building process, through which the market gauges the demand and price discovery of initial public offerings (IPO), is expected to be game changer for Qatar's fast developing capital market.

This came in response to Qatar’s first book building exercise for Meeza’s IPO, whose book building period concluded on March 6.

The book building system is fast becoming the most acceptable format among issuers and lead managers in the (Arab) region, sources said.

Highlighting that the final pricing of Meeza's IPO was outside the latest price range; market sources said it is evident that book building process is going to be a game changer for the country's capital market, which is already eyeing developed market status.

Seven qualified institutional buyers had subscribed to 37.41% of the IPO, with the book closing above the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) minimum requirement of five qualified investors subscribing to at least 30% of the offering.

Final pricing outside the latest price range is a testament of the effectiveness of the book building mechanism to transparently price the IPO based on supply and demand, considering market conditions and feedback received from qualified investors during the book building subscription period.

"This (Meeza IPO) would go long way in