Dubai’s aggressive moves to grab a piece of the red hot Middle Eastern IPO market has helped double the value of its exchange operator over two weeks.
While Abu Dhabi and Riyadh drew in orders worth billions of dollars from marquee listings, Dubai was left behind. The new head of the city’s financial market has announced a series of steps this month to help reverse that.
A flurry of announcements since the start of the month have helped push Dubai Financial Market’s market value to about 17 billion dirhams ($4.6 billion). The stock has rallied 107% since Nov. 1 after languishing for most of this year.
Once the United Arab Emirates’ leading exchange by traded volume, the city’s bourse is now second to Abu Dhabi. Dubai has seen one listing since 2017, and a string of delistings that have dented investor confidence. Equity trading in Dubai has fallen in three of the past four years.
Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed’s plans to grab a slice of the IPO action include listing as many as 10 state-owned firms, including utility DEWA -- likely to be the city’s biggest deal -- and its Salik road toll collection system. Private and family-owned businesses are also being encouraged to sell shares on the local bourse.
Dubai Financial Market shares jumped about 10% on Sunday after the Salik listing plan was announced on Saturday.
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