MENA IPOs raised $13.5bln in H1 2022

MENA IPOs raised $13.5bln in H1 2022

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region defied global trends to record a significant increase in the number of companies listing in local equity markets during the first six months of the year, an EY report showed.

“The second quarter of 2022 continued the momentum of the first quarter, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE leading IPO activity in the MENA region. Despite concern from investors regarding the risk of a global recession, there remains a healthy pipeline of IPO candidates from KSA and the UAE, as well as quieter IPO markets such as Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, looking to come to market in the future,” said Gregory Hughes, EY MENA IPO and Transaction Diligence Leader.

The region saw a six-fold year-on-year increase in the number of companies listing during H1 2022, with 24 IPOs raising proceeds of $13.5 billion.

During the second quarter of 2022, MENA IPO markets saw nine IPOs raise approximately $9 billion in proceeds. Although the number of IPOs decreased by 40% when compared with Q1 2022, the proceeds raised more than doubled.

This compares with the global trend where there was a drop of 46% in the number of IPOs and 58% in the proceeds raised when compared