Dubai’s stock exchange is in talks with companies planning dual listings to attract both foreign and local investors, its chief executive officer said.
(Bloomberg) —
Dubai’s stock exchange is in talks with companies planning dual listings to attract both foreign and local investors, its chief executive officer said.
The plan follows a booming year for initial public offerings in the Gulf in 2022, as investors flocked to a region that was growing even as listings elsewhere dried up under the weight of rising interest rates globally.
“We have a number of stories that are looking at Dubai as a much better hub for them to attract regional and international investors,” CEO Hamed Ahmed Ali told reporters on the sidelines of the MENA IPO Summit held in Dubai. These firms are “regional with an international flavor,” he said, without elaborating.
The dual-listing plan follows the success of such a deal in the Gulf region late last year when Americana Restaurants International Plc raised $1.8 billion in a share sale in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. Shares in the Middle Eastern operator of KFC and Pizza Hut outlets are up around 30% since they went public in the first dual listing on the two bourses.
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Ali said there’s a long queue of companies interested in going public in Dubai alone.
“The pipeline is looking phenomenally well — it is looking fantastic,” he said, adding that the exchange is not just focused on government IPOs. “We have a number of active discussions when it comes to the private sector.”
The Dubai exchange is looking to draw companies from sectors that make up the city’s economy, such as logistics, manufacturing, financial services, consumer retail, shipping and handling as well as tourism, Ali said. “Those are the sectors we’re looking at very actively,” he added.
–With assistance from Nisha Gopalan.
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