Listed companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region raised $14.7 billion during the nine months ended September 30, up 550% from the same period last year, a report by professional services partnership Ernst & Young Global (EY) showed Tuesday.
According to the latest quarterly EY MENA IPO Eye report, the region saw a 288% increase year-on-year (YoY) in the number of listed companies in the nine months to September.
Seven companies went public in the third quarter, raising approximately $1.5 billion in total, and bringing the overall number of MENA initial public offerings (IPOs) in the year-to-date to 31.
The Dubai-based toll-road operator Salik raised over $1 billion from its IPO in the third quarter, making it the largest MENA IPO during the quarter and the fourth largest in the region in 2022 thus far. The IPO was oversubscribed more than 49 times across all tranches, with total gross demand set at $50.2 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.
Salik’s IPO is part of a broader plan to list 10 state-owned firms on the Dubai bourse. Emirates Central Cooling Systems could be next, with the company selecting investment banks in August, Bloomberg reported.
Disty Technologies, a Moroccan IT company, marked the return of IPO activity to Morocco since last year, raising around $17 million on the Casablanca Stock Exchange in the third quarter.
The rise of MENA IPOs was due to these companies' demonstrated resilience with innovative business models, agility in navigating supply chain constraints, strength in financial positions, and preparation in adapting to ongoing concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic among other factors, according to EY.
The outlook for the fourth quarter of 2022 and into 2023 remains promising for MENA IPOs, as several companies in the region have announced their IPOs and intention to list on key MENA exchanges, EY forecast.
