Initial public offerings in the Middle East are outpacing Europe for only the second time since the global financial crisis, as regional investors put oil-fueled cash piles to work.
IPOs from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi have raised $4.8 billion this year, compared to Europe’s tally of $3.9 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It’s a rare occurrence for the Middle East to post a bigger quarter: The only other time this has happened since 2009 was in late 2019, when Saudi Aramco pulled off the world’s largest-ever listing.
Saudi Arabia’s Riyad Bank has taken the top spot this quarter in Bloomberg’s IPO league table for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which is usually dominated by U.S. and European institutions. Half of the biggest listings to price in EMEA this year have come from the Gulf, the data show.
This year’s market turmoil driven by worries over inflation, hawkish central bank policies and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has scuppered IPOs across the globe. But soaring energy prices has benefited the oil-rich Persian Gulf, ensuring investor demand for share sales in the Middle East remains high.
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