In 2024, there is a continuation of growth trend in IPO activity in UAE with the momentum of the 2023. The markets have watched a new array of firms that belong to different categories such as technology, Forex, remittance, and hospitality entering the public stage. This movement coincides with the privatization policy of the government in order to enrich market depth by attracting the local and foreign investors.

The ADX happens to be an active exchange in Abu Dhabi and managers are optimistic that by the end of this year there shall have been up to four listings of private companies. ADC Acquisition Corporation, AIR, LuLu Group and Spinneys Dubai are a few of the companies that have listed or are planning to list themselves. The ADX saw its first ever SPAC listing in ADC Acquisition Corporation when it merged with United Printing & Publishing (UPP) and became a public company. According to the plans Advanced Inhalation Rituals will raising $800 million through its own IPO, while LuLu Group and Spinneys Dubai are planning on the listings on ADX and DFM respectively.

The UAE dominated the GCC IPO market in 2023, issuing eight listings that attracted $6.07 billion, with Saudi Arabia closing the gap in terms of the number of IPOs. IPO performances which are mostly positive and average returns of 40% have in addition led to a rise in the IPO demand in the region. According to the trend between 2023 and 2024, the demand for privatization will still be coming in from investors, and the government will still be pulling strings to privatize business.

Around 30 companies in the Middle East and North Africa are estimated to be going public in 2024 — many of the IPOs will come from Saudi Arabia or the UAE area. The policy environment still is in favor, which is enhanced by state programs aimed at the privatization of the state-run businesses. In 2023, the general funds raised saw a depreciating performance, but the healthy number of IPOs across different sectors is a reflection of a stable market. Among the 48 regional companies that finished their initial public offering in 2023, only 26 two-thirds of the companies saw their shares trade above their listing price at the end of the year.

In 2024 there was a distinct shift towards smaller deals from the private sector, as the average deal size went from $700 million to $300 million. EFG Hermes stated that there will be an increase in private sector IPOs in the GCC countries, a fact that was welcomed by the investment bank. This growth is expected to be propelled by companies from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, alongside Oman which is also expected to obtain some attractions as a market for IPO’s. Several expected IPOs are mentioned here where, for example, retail chains Spinneys, Lulu and Milling Company 3 (Saudi Arabia) are involved. Such development toward small-scaled private sector IPOs shows the diversity of the market, suggesting an increasing number of entities will receive financing from the capital markets.

The IPO scene in the GCC in 2023 appears to have attenuated so that the total value of proceeds in 2023 takes about 37% of the EMEA region’s proceeds in 2022. This adds to the weight or significance of the GCC region in the global IPO market. Sectoral diversity, which the IPO pipeline encompasses from retail to healthcare and technology, showcases the developing economic landscape of UAE and GCC region at large. Moreover, the document captures the growing contribution of private sector’s innovation and entrepreneurship in the process of economic growth and the diversification of production lines.

The ongoing success of IPOs in the UAE and the GCC basically affirms that the region’s capital markets are on the right track. It quite apart supplies business with sufficient capital for expansion and development while at the same time introduces investors to the investment opportunities that are emerging in the single region whose borders are growing wider and wider. Nonetheless, the factor of success of the IPOs, among others, are the volatility of the market condition, investors’ sentiment and the economic condition of the globe. Therefore, firms planning to get listed through IPO should carefully prepare for the process as they are anticipated to leverage the positives and overcome some negative market forces.

In a nutshell, 2024 UAE’s IPO market is a thriving environment where a variety of IPO-seeking firms are keen to proceed with their initial public offerings thanks to the forward-looking government policies and strong investor participation. The purpose of this tendency is to draw the correlation between the economic diversification process and the immense potential both for companies involved and for the investors. The market is bound to change and it is intriguing to observe the further developments of these IPOs in the local environment.