Dubai Financial Market, Dubai World Trade Centre team up to hold MENA region’s first IPO-focused summit

The new platform is set to unite the entire IPO (initial public offering) value chain in the region.

The summit, slated for January 23-25, will gather industry experts who will share first-hand knowledge of the IPO process and the opportunities and challenges of becoming a public company.

The inaugural summit will shed light on the strong impetus and promising prospects of the IPO sector in Dubai.

It will also showcase a roadmap for startups and SMEs in Dubai, including expertise around its regulatory environment, business culture and capital opportunities for scaling ventures through to a public offering.

The launch of this event series comes at an opportune time for Dubai and the wider region’s investment community following record IPO activity – large-scale public offerings have been a mainstay of the regional business landscape in 2022 and the expected momentum in 2023.

During 2022, DFM has seen listings of five government-related and private sector leading issuers – DEWA, Tecom, Salik, Empower and Taaleem.

These companies have successfully raised more than AED31 billion and their IPOs witnessed remarkable oversubscriptions drawing AED672 billion of subscribed amounts.

Helal Al Marri, Director-General of Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai, said the proposed summit is part of DWTC and DFM’s mutual efforts to showcase the favorable dynamics and latest developments of the IPO sector.

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

Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, said: “With the increased momentum in Dubai capital markets in terms of listings and investors’ engagement, we are delighted to launch the MENA IPO Summit – Dubai as an important catalyst to exploring market opportunities in collaboration with capital market and IPO experts.”

The summit will provide a platform for industry-shaping discussions, providing institutional investors, family businesses and startups with the opportunity to explore the latest regulations, best practices, and market trends in the Dubai capital market as well as learning about recent regional IPO success stories.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with key IPO issuers and thought leaders from the investment and capital market industry.

The summit will have discussion between issuers, investment experts, regulators and companies undergoing strategic preparations for a future listing.

Experts set to share their insight include Dr. Maryam Buti Al Suwaidi, CEO Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), Hamed Ali, CEO, DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, Mohammad Al Bastaki, CEO, Emirates NBD Capital, Fadi Ghandour, Managing Partner, Wamda Capital and Thomas Varghese, CFO, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).

Abdulla Belhoul, CEO, TECOM Group and Miguel Azevedo, Head of investment banking, Middle East & Africa & Managing Director, Citi, will be among the experts from the private sector. The summit is supported by a group of leading international financial institutions including HSBC, Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co.