Dubai Financial Market, DWTC set to host first MENA IPO Summit – Dubai

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) have partnered to host the MENA IPO Summit – Dubai.

Taking place from January 23 to 25, at The Museum of the Future, the inaugural summit will showcase the promising prospects of the initial public offerings (IPOs) sector in Dubai.

The summit will gather industry experts who will share first-hand knowledge of the IPO process and the opportunities and challenges of becoming a public company, as well as how to advance ESG agendas.

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 an IPO, shared the Dubai Media Office.

The launch of this event series comes at a time when large-scale IPOs have emerged as a mainstay of the regional business landscape.

DFM & DWTC announce partnership for inaugural MENA IPO Summit. Taking place in January 2023, the event will showcase the strong impetus & promising prospects of the IPOs sector in Dubai, following record activity in 2022 & expected momentum in 2023.https://t.co/52HQMzCOMz pic.twitter.com/qhngPNoraw

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) January 9, 2023

Leveraging the market’s strong IPO performance

During 2022, DFM strengthened its role as an efficient fund-raising platform through IPOs and listings of five government-related and private-sector leading issuers such as DEWA, Tecom, Salik, Empower and Taaleem. These companies have successfully raised more than Dhs31bn and their IPOs witnessed remarkable oversubscriptions drawing Dhs672bn of subscribed amounts.

According to the Dubai Media Office, Helal Al Marri, DG of the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai, said, “The organisation of this flagship gathering stems from DWTC and DFM’s mutual efforts to showcase the favourable dynamics and latest developments of the IPO sector. Dubai capital markets are witnessing robust IPO and listing activities supported by the strong fundamentals of Dubai’s economy as well as the successful implementation of Dubai’s strategy to develop its financial market in a number of areas.”

Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, added, “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. DFM’s primary focus continues to be to develop a vibrant and progressive capital market ecosystem in partnership with all market stakeholders.”

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with key IPO issuers and thought leaders from the investment and capital market industry. Experts attending include Dr Maryam Buti Al Suwaidi, CEO of Securities and Commodities Authority; Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai; Mohammad Al Bastaki, CEO of Emirates NBD Capital; Fadi Ghandour, managing partner of Wamda Capital; Thomas Varghese, CFO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority; Abdulla Belhoul, CEO of TECOM Group; Miguel Azevedo, head of Investment Banking, Middle East and Africa, and MD, Citi.