Mubasher: Boursa Kuwait, which has been classified as an emerging market by index provider FTSE Russell in September, considers an initial public offering (IPO) for a stake in its stock exchange in 2018, as reported by Bloomberg.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kuwait is conducting market studies for Boursa Kuwait’s IPO through the end of April, the deputy chairman of Boursa Kuwait, Mishaal Al Usaimi told Bloomberg TV.
Boursa Kuwait is expected to be competing with the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) to become the second among the GCC states after the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) planned to raise cash through an IPO.
Kuwait expected inflows of hundreds of millions of dollars from investors after the recent upgrade by FTSE, Bloomberg said.
It added that Al Usaimi said interest in Kuwaiti stocks remains “buoyant,” adding that liquidity “remains an issue.”
“The share sale in the exchange will consist of an offering as much as 50% to the public and up to 24% to state entities, the CMA said last month. It also hired a consortium led by Tri International Consulting Group to advise on selling as much as 44% of Boursa Kuwait to a foreign exchange operator,” Bloomberg noted.
