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IPOs

UAE’s Al Ansari Exchange picks banks for Dubai IPO

UAE-based foreign exchange and remittance firm Al Ansari Exchange has picked EFG-Hermes and Emirates NBD Bank to lead its planned initial public offering (IPO) in Dubai, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The money-exchange firm is likely to list in the first quarter of 2023. Preparations for the IPO are ongoing and details […]

UAE biofuel firm in talks with global investors

A Dubai-based company which converts waste cooking oil into biofuel is in investment talks with major energy firms, as demand grows among climate-conscious global companies. The sector is expected to be worth over $200 billion by 2030. “I moved to Dubai in 2009. I’d been working for three years by then on sustainability, so it’s […]

Careem food delivery Dubai
  • Analysis

Startup exits escalate in UAE

The UAE is seeing an increase in startup exits this year, as the market matures while bigger players look to acquisitions to scale up their operations. The UAE Venture Investment Report, by research firm Magnitt, states that there were 10 startup exits in the Emirates in the first half of 2022, just one less than […]

Qatar wealth fund-backed Group One mulls US listing

Group One Holdings, backed by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, Bloomberg reported. The company behind mixed martial arts brand One Championship is changing its legal domicile to the Cayman Islands from Singapore as a step towards the listing. Earlier, the company had explored […]

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser predicted growth in oil demand of around 1.5m bpd in 2024, which is less optimistic than Opec's forecast

Aramco’s Nasser: a homegrown engineer who reached the top

At an industry event this year in Riyadh, the Saudi energy minister paused at about 9pm in front of some 1,000 people and told them it was bedtime for Amin Nasser, the chief executive of state-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco. He was not joking. Over a career of four decades, Nasser has earned a reputation […]

Dubai utility DEWA’s Q2 profit up 37% on growing energy demand

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported a net profit of AED 2.61 billion ($707.9 million), up 37 percent year-on-year, in the second quarter of 2022 on higher energy demand. Revenue rose 14 percent year-on-year to AED 7.01 billion during the three month period ended June 30, 2022. The utility provider’s first half of 2022 […]

SoftBank slump not a ‘total disaster’ for Gulf wealth funds

The $23.1 billion quarterly loss announced by Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund this week may not represent a “total disaster” for its Gulf investors, according to US-based experts. Announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2017, the Vision Fund is heavily backed by GCC sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund […]

Saudi’s cashless revolution well underway as investments soar

Saudi Arabia’s digital payments revolution is gathering pace with point-of-sale transactions surpassing ATM cash withdrawals for the first time in the second quarter of 2022. The kingdom’s transformation into a cashless economy resulted in point-of-sale (PoS) transactions rising 16.6 percent annually in Q2 to $36.7 billion, described by the Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA) as […]

UAE invests in future flood control after record rainfall

The UAE’s recent record levels of rainfall, resulting in loss of life and flood damage, pose budgetary challenges for authorities, but also opportunities for regional infrastructure investors. The National Centre of Meteorology said last month was the wettest July in the UAE for over 40 years. It said that 234.9mm of rain fell between 22:30 […]

The Aramco IPO raised $30 billion and industry observers believe now is the right time for a second listing that could raise a further $10 billion

UAE and Saudi ‘bright spots’ in challenging global IPO market

The UAE and Saudi Arabia bucked the global downturn in initial public offering (IPO) activity in the first half of 2022. According to the EY MENA IPO Eye report, both countries – and the wider MENA region – remain a “bright spot in a challenging market”. It witnessed a 500 percent year-on-year increase in the […]

  • Analysis

The billion-dollar question: what does it take to make a unicorn?

Can the UAE meet its target of being home to 20 unicorns by 2031? Only if entrepreneurs, venture capital and the government work together to build companies that can truly “translate across borders”, according to experts. Today the UAE has just three startups valued at $1 billion: Vista Global, Emerging Market Property Group and Kitopi. […]

GCC embraces public-private partnerships to drive projects

Public-private partnerships will become more important across a wider range of sectors in the Gulf region as countries continue to diversify their economies, say experts. With the total value of planned and unawarded projects in the GCC countries expected to reach $2 trillion, governments are seeking more private sector support in infrastructure projects delivery. “Both […]

NEOM’s IPO plans welcomed by global wealth funds

The Saudi Exchange inched upwards in trading today, following positive reaction to plans by the crown prince to list all companies linked to the sovereign wealth fund in the coming years, part of a wider strategy to turn Tadawul into one of the top stock markets in the world. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman […]

Dubai’s DEWA to invest over $10bn as energy demand rises

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to invest 40 billion dirhams ($10.89 billion) on capital expenditure over the next few years, just a day after it announced energy demand in the emirate rose by 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2022. The firm provides electricity and water services to 3.5 million people […]

Amin Magrabi, CEO

Vision giant Magrabi eyes IPO and global expansion

Magrabi Retail could be set for international expansion and an upcoming IPO, according to Amin Magrabi, CEO of the Middle Eastern ocular powerhouse.  With 142 stores, an estimated market share of 40 percent, 1,350 employees and revenue of $220 million a year, Riyadh-headquartered Magrabi Retail plans to double in size by 2025. “International expansion is […]

Union Coop’s store in Jumeirah, Dubai

Supermarket chain Union Coop to list on Dubai stock market

UAE supermarket chain Union Coop is to list its shares on the Dubai stock market from July 18, it announced today. The retailer suspended the trading of shares on its own portal and when trading resumes on July 18 on the DFM shareholders will be given ten shares for each already held. The company, which […]

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wants to gloablise Dubai's national companies

Dubai to open 50 commercial offices around the world

Dubai is planning to open 50 commercial representative offices around the world as part of its goal to transform the emirate into a truly global trading hub and double its economy in the next five years. The new Dubai Global initiative, launched yesterday, aims to help Dubai-based companies scale up globally and provide them with […]

Aluminium Bahrain BSC is the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East

Alba confirms it is ‘exploring’ listing in Saudi Arabia

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is considering a secondary listing of Aluminium Bahrain BSC (Alba) on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock market. Alba said in a statement to the Bahrain Stock Exchange yesterday it is “exploring various opportunities, one of which is a potential secondary listing on Saudi Arabia’s Stock Exchange which is currently under evaluation […]

IPO expected for Dubai road toll operator

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Wednesday issued a new law establishing road toll operator Salik as a public joint stock company (PJSC), paving the way for a potential initial public offering (IPO).  According to the law, Salik Company PJSC will have a term of 99 years, starting from the date of […]