Good Growth In GCC IPO Market In 2025 So Far Despite Volatility Due To Tariffs Row

The initial public offering (IPO) activity in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) companies grew in the first half of 2025 despite volatile market conditions driven by shifts in US trade policies, according to the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence data & analysis.

The company data revealed that 27 firms across the GCC raised $4.1 billion (Dh 15 billion) through IPOs during the January-June 2025 period, compared to 23 firms raising $3.57 billion (Dh13.1 billion) during the same period last year.

The stock markets witnessed volatility during the first half of the year due to US President Donald Trump's announcement to impose higher tariffs on China, the European Union and other trading partners. This had a severe impact on the global equity markets , including the UAE and GCC countries.

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The Israel-Iran conflict also briefly impacted GCC markets in June, though not by much, as most of the region's equity markets are dominated by companies in the banking and industrial sectors, which are usually less exposed to the direct effects of geopolitical turmoil, Marmore Mena Intelligence wrote in a July market report.

Saudi Arabia led the GCC region's IPO activity, hosting seven of the 10 largest IPO transactions in the first half. Budget carrier Flynas Co. had the highest gross amount offered, raising $1.09 billion from the free float of 30 per cent of its share capital on the Saudi Exchange.

Dubai Holding's Dubai Residential REIT was the second largest IPO in the GCC, raising $584 million (Dh2.14 billion). Listed on the Dubai Financial Market, the IPO was oversubscribed 26 times in May.

Earlier, Alpha Data raised $163.36 million and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Three listings from the real estate sector were among the 10 largest IPOs in the region, led by Dubai Residential REIT.

The GCC region's IPO pipeline is expected to remain strong, according to the EY Global IPO Pulse Survey conducted with institutional investors in June.

However, for the broader global IPO market, the outlook for the rest of the year remains cautiously optimistic. A potential rebound "hinges on more cooperative trade frameworks, accommodative monetary policy, controlled inflation and geopolitical de-escalation," EY said.

While geopolitical turbulence tempered early optimism for the global IPO market for 2025, the long-term outlook is "promising," Stuart Newman, Global IPO Centre Leader at PwC UK, wrote in a July report.

"We have seen signs of a selective reopening of IPO markets in the US and China/Hong Kong and a continued supply of IPOs in India and the Middle East," Newman noted, cautioning that a market recovery will highly depend on global macroeconomic and geopolitical stability.

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