The Middle East’s IPO market, until only recently a boom amid the gloom, is returning to Earth with a bump–or two.
Earlier today, colleagues Dinesh Nair, Julia Fioretti and Matthew Martin reported that Saudi Aramco is pushing back a planned Riyadh listing of its energy-trading business, a deal that would have ranked as one of the world’s largest share sales this year.
Then, soon after, Dinesh, Julia and Swetha Gopinath broke the news that ADES International, the oil and gas driller backed by Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund, has delayed its planned $1 billion IPO to the second half.
Companies have raised $3.5 billion from IPOs on exchanges in the Middle East this year, down almost 70% on the same period in 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That’s quite a change in the narrative from last year, when ECM bankers contending with the world’s worst IPO slump since the financial crisis were at least able to bask in the glow of a scorching listings market in the Middle East. The region was one of few where deals got pushed through in the face rising interest rates and soaring inflation.
But oil prices have fallen from the highs hit in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a mini banking crisis in the US and Europe also did nothing for the stability of global stocks in recent months. Saudi’s IPO market has been particularly quiet this year. The kingdom’s benchmark Tadawul All Share Index is down about 15% over the last 12 months.
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