#Dubai Breaks Into World’s Top Five Listing Venues With DEWA IPO - Bloomberg

Dubai Breaks Into World’s Top Five Listing Venues With DEWA IPO - Bloomberg

Dubai kicked off a string of planned privatizations on a positive note, with the blockbuster initial public offering of its utility catapulting the emirate into the world’s top five listing venues this year.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority surged 16% in its debut after after a $6.1 billion IPO that’s the second-biggest this year globally. Dubai’s stock market is now in fifth place by listing proceeds, a turnaround for the bourse that’s barely seen any action since 2017.

DEWA’s IPO, which drew $86 billion in orders, is a watershed moment for Dubai, after the city missed out on a listing boom that swept through the Middle East last year. Investors have flocked to share sales in the Gulf, seen as a relative safe haven among emerging markets after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“The Gulf region is in a sweet spot,” said Bassam Slim, senior portfolio manager at Aventicum Capital Management in Qatar, noting high commodity prices and the region’s increasing weight within the emerging markets universe. “We believe that the current conditions are conducive for Dubai’s IPO pipeline.”