Tadawul and Nomu steal region’s IPO show (so far)

IPO activity in the Middle East has been concentrated fully on the Saudi and UAE markets so far, according to analysis from PwC, with 2024 expected to be another rosy year for capital raisings through public offerings.

In its ‘IPO Watch’ series, PwC sheds quarterly light on the developments in the region’s IPO market, with the latest edition suggesting that 2024 will be another good year for the sector – although surpassing the bumper year of 2022 may be a stretch too far.

In the first quarter of 2024, 10 IPOs closed, one more than in the same period the year previous, seeing $1.2 billion raised in funds.

Saudi Arabia was the place to be, with six listings on Tadawul’s parallel market Nomu, and three on the main exchange, Tadawul.

IPOs in the first quarter closed across a number of different sectors, including Modern Mills for Food Products in the consumer markets sector, Avalon Pharma in healthcare, and MBC Group in telecom & technology.

The sole IPO outside of Saudi Arabia was Parkin, which raised AED 1,574.37 million in what was a massively oversubscribed listing (oversubscribed by 165 times).

PwC leader Muhammad Hassan said that the firm predicts IPO activity to remain healthy over the course of the next three quarters. “We expect the privatization agenda across the GCC, combined with the ambition of private family businesses to go public, will continue to drive issuance supporting positive momentum in IPO activity in 2024.”

“The majority of IPO activity in the region is expected to come from KSA and UAE, however, there is also growing momentum in Oman and Qatar.”

Researcher PwC is a global professional services firm with a strong track record in mergers & acquisitions and IPO advisory services.