Dubai to host Mena IPO summit

Dubai will host the Mena IPO Summit from January 23-25, as the market awaits the next announcement on which of Dubai Government owned enterprises will go in for a float.

The event — jointly promoted by Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) — will ‘shed light on the strong impetus and promising prospects of the IPO sector in Dubai’. Experts will share info on the IPO process and the opportunities and challenges of becoming a public company, as well as how to advance ESG agendas. Also on the agenda is a road map for start-ups and SMEs in Dubai.

To date, there have been five government-related and private sector issues — Dewa, Tecom, Salik, Empower and Taaleem — and which raised more than Dh31 billion. The oversubscriptions hit Dh672 billion over the subscribed amounts.

Robust IPO activities

“Dubai capital markets are witnessing robust IPO and listing activities supported by the strong fundamentals of Dubai’s economy as well as the successful implementation of Dubai’s strategy to develop its financial market in a number of areas,” said Helal Al Marri, Director General of Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai.

“The new markets’ ecosystem and its regulatory enhancements have created an attractive environment for various types of businesses such as governmentrelated conglomerates, private corporations and family businesses to going public and listing through an array of listing options that cater to their requirements in terms of size, growth stage and jurisdiction.”

Experts will share info on the IPO process and the opportunities and challenges of becoming a public company.