Saudi Arabia tops MENA IPO activity in Q3

Saudi Arabia led the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in initial public offering (IPO) activity in the third quarter of 2018 raising $220.6 million, according to consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY).

The IPO of Leejam Sports Company on the Saudi Stock Exchange raised $220.6 million, made it the biggest IPO in the third quarter. In the previous quarter, four companies went public, three of which were REIT listings on the Tadawul, the report said.

Additionally, in the GCC region, Oman’s Muscat Securities Market had a single IPO listing for Dhofar Generating Company in the power and utilities sector raising $52 million. In the wider MENA region, Egypt and Tunisia recorded one deal each.

Muscat, Egypt and Tunis recorded one IPO each raising $129.3 million. In total, the MENA region raised $349.9 million through four IPOs, in Q3 2018, said the report.

Compared to Q3 2017, IPO value saw an increase year-on-year (YoY) by 21.9 percent, while activity declined by 33.3 percent.

“In light of fluctuating oil prices and headwinds in the economy, IPO activity in the MENA region has been slow from Q1 to Q3 2018,” said Phil Gandier, MENA Transactions Leader, EY.

“However it is positive to see that IPO value increased YoY in Q3, especially when we’ve seen several entities across MENA delaying their plans for IPOs in 2018.”

The MENA IPO activity in the previous quarter has outshone the global IPO performance. Globally, IPO activity saw a significant slowdown in Q3 2018, with 302 IPOs raising $47.1 billion, marking a decrease of 15 percent and 2 percent respectively, compared to Q2 2018, the report added.