UAE: 11 new IPOs with a total value of Dh8 billion in the pipeline

Around 11 initial public offerings (IPOs) with a total value of Dh8 billion are currently in the pipeline, said a senior official on Tuesday.

While speaking on the second day of the Mena IPO Summit held in Dubai, Mohamed Khalifa Al Hadari, deputy CEO of the Securities and Commodities Authority, said four free zones entities and two special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are in the process of listing on the local markets.

The UAE’s IPO pipeline was very strong last year with a number of public and private sector entities listing on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges. Dubai government has announced to list 10 entities on the Dubai Financial Market and a few of them were listed last year while the remaining will launch their IPOs in due course in order to increase market capitalisation to Dh3 trillion. Dubai entities that went for IPO last year included Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), Tecom and Salik.

In the UAE, as many as 12 companies came to the market, raising $11 billion, in addition to the joint Abu Dhabi-Riyadh listing of Mena food franchisee Americana, which raised $1.8 billion.

“New types of entities are also seeking to go public, including free zone companies and corporate societies in the UAE,” he added.

Al Hadari added that Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange could list 13 additional companies this year, including four companies from outside UAE.

“While 2021 was a year of recovery, 2022 and 2023 will see significant roles in the development of local IPO markets as govt strategy is to expand and diversify the market,” he said during the opening remarks of the summit.

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