MENA IPO activity: 23 listings registered in H1; Saudi, UAE to lead market in H2

MENA IPO activity: 23 listings registered in H1; Saudi, UAE to lead market in H2

The MENA IPO market registered a total of 23 IPOs, down 4% YoY, in the first six months of 2023 (H1). All the IPOs were in the GCC with total proceeds of $5.2 billion, global accounting firm EY said in a report.

The MENA region has a promising pipeline for the rest of the year, particularly from KSA, the reported stated, adding, so far, 23 Saudi companies have announced their listing plans on the Tadawul for H2 2023.

Two companies in Egypt intend to list, indicating a strong pipeline of IPOs to come in the remainder of the year.

Gregory Hughes, EY MENA IPO and Transaction Diligence Leader, said: “The MENA IPO pipeline for H2 2023 and 2024 remains very healthy with several IPOs already announced in KSA and multiple processes ongoing across the broader region, with further transactions planned in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait."

"We see planned IPO activity across different sectors and from a combination of family business, state-backed enterprise and private equity stakeholders," Hughes added.

IPOs gather momentum in Q2

Bucking the global trend, IPO activity in the MENA region continued to gather momentum with a total of $1.8 billion in proceeds from 13 IPOs in Q2 2023, EY stated in