Dubai: After a pick-up in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) during the third quarter of this year, consultancy EY (formerly Ernst & Young) described the outlook for the IPO market in the Middle East and North Africa as positive.
In a report on Sunday, EY said that based on the pipeline of IPOs, it expects to see “a number of premium government or partially government-owned assets being floated over the next two years, particularly in the energy-related sector.”
“The Mena IPO market outlook is positive against the backdrop of increasing stability in oil prices, improving investor confidence in the global markets, and a strong desire to raise funds through privatisation, resulting in a large pipeline of companies potentially preparing to come to market,” said Gregory Hughes, Mena IPO leader at EY.
During the third quarter of this year, the region saw five IPOs, representing a fivefold increase when compared to the single IPO seen in the third quarter of 2016. Capital raised from those IPOs reached $236.7 million (Dh869.39 million) last quarter, up 20 per cent year-on-year.
The IPO activity in the third quarter of this year was primarily driven by three IPOs in Saudi Arabia, valued at a total of $206.8 million. After a gap of two years, the Muscat Securities Market saw two IPOs in the third quarter as well.
In its report, EY also said global IPO activity for 2017 is “on course to be the busiest year since 2007, with approximately 1,600 to 1,700 IPOs expected to raise between $190 billion and $200 billion.”
