The region saw 53 initial public offerings during 2024 and the funds raised marked a 23 per cent increase compared to the previous year, where issuers raised $10.7bn through 46 offerings.

Corporate IPOs raised $ 8.9bn, or 67 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds during the year, through 48 offerings. IPOs offered by government related entities only accounted for 33 per cent, amounting to $ 4.3bn through five offerings.

GCC IPOs

Markaz’s report stated that the UAE led the region in terms of IPO proceeds for the third year in a row, raising a total of $6.4bn which constituted 49 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds during the year.

The Emirates saw seven IPOs during the year where Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) raised $3.6bn hosting four IPOs led by NMDC Energy and Lulu Retail Holdings.

On the other hand, Dubai Financial Market (DFM) raised a total of $2.8bn from Talabat, Parkin Company and Spinneys IPOs.

Saudi Arabia followed, raising a total of $4.1bn, or 31 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds, with 42 offerings. Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) saw 14 IPOs on its Main Market amounting to a total of $3.8bn and 28 IPOs on its Parallel Market (Nomu) raising a total of $297m.

Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, Almoosa Health Group and Nice One IPOs were the largest offerings listed on Tadawul.

Oman raised $2.5bn during the year, or 19 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds, witnessing two IPOs on Muscat Securities Market (MSX).

Offerings by OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) and OQ Base Industries (OQBI) were held during the last quarter of the year, in alignment with the Oman Investment Authority’s strategy to divest certain government assets.

Kuwait has seen its first IPO since 2022, with Boursa Kuwait hosting the IPO of Beyout Investment Group Holding during the second quarter of the year. The offering raised a total of $147m constituting 1 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds raised during the year.

Bahrain saw one IPO during the year raising a total of $24m. Bahrain Bourse (BHB) welcomed the IPO of Al Abraaj Restaurants Group marking Bahrain’s first IPO since 2018.

The company offered 35 per cent stake with proceeds constituting to 0.2 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds during the year.

The Energy sector raised a total of $3.7bn, accounting for nearly 28 per cent of the total proceeds during 2024 from offerings by Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy and Oman’s OQEP and OQBI.

This was followed by the Consumer Staples sector with $3.1bn, or 24 per cent of the total proceeds, from eight IPOs including Lulu Retail Holdings, Spinneys and Saudi Modern Mills Company.

The Consumer Discretionary sector raised a total of $2.7bn, constituting 20 per cent of the total proceed, from nine IPOs including Talabat, Nice One and Abu Dhabi National Hotels Catering.

Moreover, the Healthcare sector saw $1.4bn in proceeds, constituting 10 per cent of the total proceeds, through seven IPOs while the Industrials sector saw $877m from 11 offerings and constituting 7 per cent of the total GCC IPO proceeds during the year.

This was followed by the Financial Services sector, Technology, Utilities and Material which constituted 5 per cent, 4 per cent, 1 per cent and 1 per cent of total offerings respectively.

Excluding December listings, more than 59 per cent of the GCC IPOs shares surged on their first 30 days post-listing.

Saudi Arabia’s IPOs, on both the Main and Parallel markets, recorded the highest performances post-listing compared to other GCC markets.

Positive market sentiments for sectors such as technology, healthcare and consumer drove the strong gains for these IPOs.

Miahona Company recorded the biggest gains with its shares rising more than 147 per cent compared to its offering price of SR11.5. The company floated 30 per cent of its capital on Tadawul’s Mian Market in May 2024.

This was followed by Purity for Information Technology Company which gained 118 per cent on its first 30 days after offering a 20 per cent stake for SR8 on Tadawul’s Parallel Market (Nomu) in October 2024.

On the other hand, some IPOs have recorded negative performance noting that majority of which were minor declines.

The largest decline recorded was Pan Gulf Marketing Company which was listed on Nomu in February 2024. The shares dropped by 35 per cent after its offering price at SR51.

Yaqeen Capital Company has also underperformed, slumping by 28 per cent from its offering price of SR40 in June 2024.

A negative trend was seen as well across milling companies, all of which dropped, which might be due to investors being sceptical over government’s support for this industry.

Most of the GCC equity market indices ended the year 2024 on the rise.

Dubai Financial Market outperformed its GCC peers with a 26.9 per cent increase followed by Boursa Kuwait with a 12.4 per cent increase.

Muscat Securities Market increased by 1.3 per cent similarly to Bahrain Bourse which increased by 1.2 per cent.

Saudi Tadawul increased by 0.6 per cent while Qatar Stock Exchange fell by -1 per cent as well as Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange which fell by -1.7 per cent.

Saudi Arabia is expecting more than 50 IPOs during the next two years. Seven IPOs have already gained regulatory approvals and are expected to be listed by the first quarter of 2025.

The UAE, Qatar and Oman are also expecting several IPOs as local companies started appointing banks for potential offerings.

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/markets/equities/ipo/gcc-ipos-raised-13-2bn-last-year-as-uae-and-saudi-markets-dominate