A report issued by KAMCO Invest said that Gulf IPO activities in 2020 witnessed a decline, compared to the strong performance witnessed in 2019, but it remained relatively active During the second half of 2020.
The report said that after we witnessed the record IPO of Aramco in 2019, the initial public offering (IPO) market in the Gulf states remained active in 2020 despite the increasing selling pressure The market witnessed this against the backdrop of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning of the year, thanks to the revival of IPO activities in the second half of 2020.
The total number of initial public offerings issued by Gulf countries on regional and international stock exchanges decreased to 7 in 2020 compared to 12 in 2019, and the outcome of initial public offerings activities in 2020 to Gulf entities on regional and international stock exchanges had $ 1.87 billion, compared to $ 29.04 billion in 2019.
and estimates included KAMCO Invest's 2020 international IPO for UAE-based Yalla Group Limited ($ 144.8 million), and the initial public offering of Finablr shares at a value of $ 144.8 million. $ 398 million, and the Network Holding Company valued at $ 1.4 billion in 2019.
2020 also saw the listing of a number of companies that were offered for initial public offering in 2019, including the shares of Kuwait Stock Exchange ($ 177 million) and North Al-Zour Company. First Energy and Water ($ 32 million), and KFH Capital REIT Fund ($ 77.8 million) to be traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
KAMCO Invest believes that the initial public offering market in the GCC countries would have witnessed higher activity in 2020, especially in the first half of the year, except The issuers preferred to avoid touching the primary market until the secondary markets recovered from the repercussions of the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. This led to a postponement of the issuances until the end of 2020, while others preferred to wait until 2021.
Strong incentives for IPOs in the Gulf in 2021
The report expects that IPO markets in the GCC countries will remain active in 2021, given the number of stimuli that could boost the performance of primary markets from within the region.
It is expected that Saudi Arabia will once again lead the regional IPO market in 2021, as the Capital Market Authority announced in November 2020 that it is reviewing more than 15 applications for listing both in the market. Main or parallel market growth.
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