A more than twofold jump in the share price of a Middle Eastern broadcaster has made it the world’s best-performing listing this year, highlighting the continued strength in one of the few busy markets for initial public offerings.
MBC Group, the biggest broadcaster in the Middle East, has seen its shares rise 134% since they started trading in Riyadh on Jan. 8 after a $222 million listing, making it the largest gainer among IPOs that raised at least $50 million worldwide, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
For the past two years, the Persian Gulf has been a bright spot in an anemic global IPO market, buoyed by high oil prices and efforts by regional governments to grow their capital markets. A standout feature of the region has been the consistently strong level of investor demand for share sales, particularly from local buyers.
“MBC is a household name in the region and investors are putting faith in their streaming platform, which caters to the MENA region,” said Christian Ghandour, senior portfolio manager at Al Dhabi Capital. “As more IPOs come into regional markets, investors finally have a chance to gain exposure to sectors that were never represented on the equity markets.”
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