Middle East Equity

The encouraging tone for EMEA IPOs has extended into Tuesday with a rare and successful real estate investment trust listing in the United Arab Emirates, for ENBD Reit.

The CEO of HKEX may be keen for Saudi Aramco to list in Hong Kong but as our columnist Clawback explains, there are more reasons for the Saudi oil giant to bypass the city’s exchange than to pick it for a listing.

Five new IPOs were announced in EMEA this week as the market enters a crucial window in the run-up to Easter.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange and Saudi Arabian energy company Saudi Aramco are potentially a match made in heaven, according to the bourse's chief executive officer Charles Li.

Shares in Arabtec Holding, the largest listed construction company in the United Arab Emirates, surged 15% on Wednesday after it said regulators had approved its plans to raise Dh1.5bn ($408m) through a rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet after a second annual loss in 2016.

Shares in Arabtec Holding, the Dubai-based construction company, slumped 9.8% on Monday morning after it said it would complete a Dh1.5bn ($408m) rights issue after its second consecutive annual loss.

Saudi Aramco is set to appoint up to five banks to advise it on its potential initial public offering after a six month pitching process reached its climax this week. Contrary to earlier reports, Moelis & Co will not be the sole adviser, but will be joined by another independent, two bulge bracket banks and a local firm, writes David Rothnie.

Equity capital markets in Emea reopened after the holidays this week, with details of the first new capital increases in France and the UK being made public.

The IPO of Saudi Aramco is likely to remain a top talking point for equity capital markets bankers for much of 2017, but another Saudi deal that is likely to prove more straightforward to bring to market has taken another step forward.

NMC Health, the London-listed company that claims to be the leading private sector healthcare operator in the United Arab Emirates, raised £255.4m on Wednesday in an intraday equity bookbuild.

Shellanoo, the Israeli tech group backed by Roman Abramovich, will.i.am and Nikki Minaj, is preparing an IPO in Tel Aviv in September or October

Foreign investors will be allowed to participate in Saudi Arabian IPOs from January, the country’s regulator said on Thursday in a move that has been signalled for some time but was nevertheless warmly welcomed by bankers.