Middle East Equity

The IPO of BinDawood, the Saudi supermarket operator, has made off to a fast start with banks covering the deal throughout its price range the day it opened books, driven by strong local demand.

Saudi Arabia’s position at the pinnacle of Middle Eastern and African equity capital markets is set to be strengthened further with the IPO of BinDawood, the Gulf supermarket operator.

Nice Ltd, the New York-listed Israeli software company, has tapped the equity-linked market for financing with a new $400m five year convertible bond.

Saudi Arabia real estate financing company Amlak has announced the first IPO on the Tadawul stock exchange since the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

NMC Health, the scandal-hit UAE hospitals operator, has been delisted from the London Stock Exchange, after it was placed into administration by the UK High Court earlier this month following an application by creditors led by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Equity capital markets sources reflect on the shocking saga.

Saudi Aramco’s IPO last year was a historic event for the company and its owner, Saudi Arabia, but despite a record $29.4bn being raised at IPO, international investors stayed away. They had demanded that the shares offered a discount to other listed oil majors, in part because of the political risk associated with the company. The fact it is now a tool in Saudi Arabia’s oil price war with Russia will have vindicated many in their decision to sit out the deal.

NMC Health’s $360m convertible bonds are trading at mere cents on the dollar, suggesting virtually no recovery value after the scandal-hit UAE hospitals group said on Tuesday it had discovered even more undisclosed debt.

Finablr’s shares have been suspended and the company has warned that it may go out of business just ten months after ts IPO.

Finablr, the parent company of Travelex, has issued a warning that it may struggle to access financing due to the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus and its association with NMC Health, causing its share price to slump to a record low.

NMC Health, the scandal-hit UAE-based hospitals operator, has $2.7bn in undisclosed debt, taking its total gross debt to around $5bn, and an investigation into its finances has found evidence of serious fraud.

Shares in NMC Health, the London-listed United Arab Emirates hospitals operator, have been suspended. Its convertible bonds have fallen to around 50 cents on the dollar, after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) placed it under investigation and the company fired its chief executive.

US buyout group KKR has said it will not make a bid for the beleaguered UAE healthcare company NMC Health, dampening investor hopes of a rescue buyout and sending its shares and convertible bonds lower.