Riyadh – Mubasher: The initial public offering (IPO) market in the GCC witnessed a 36% drop during the full-year 2018, although primary market issuances cooled off from 2017 levels both in terms of the number of issuances and capital raised, a recent report showed.
The total number of corporate IPOs and REIT IPOs in GCC nations went down to 18 issuances last year , compared to 28 issuances in 2017, KAMCO Investment Company (KAMCO) said in a report.
Capital raised via IPOs declined by 18% to $2.7 billion in 2018, from $3.3 billion a year earlier, the Kuwait-based investment firm noted.
“The GCC witnessed the widest participation from issuers within the region, as capital was raised from issuers from all six GCC countries,” KAMCO said.
Saudi Arabia still acquired the first spot for primary markets among its GCC peers in 2018, with 11 IPOs worth $1.33 billion, followed by Qatar with total IPOs of $755 million, the report found.
For 2019, the leading investment company in Kuwait expects that IPO markets in the GCC will keep depending on secondary equity markets and stability of oil prices.
“Issuers are likely to watch the development of secondary markets early on in 2019, and also ascertain whether taking the debt market route for capital needs would be viable,” KAMCO said.
