Summit discusses challenges and opportunities of the IPO sector

Dubai’s first edition of the Mena IPO Summit was hosted by Dubai Financial Market between Jan.23rd and 25th, 2023, in partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

The three-day event brought together global industry leaders to unite the entire IPO value chain, serving as a platform to shed light on the strong impetus and promising prospects of the initial public offerings (IPOs) sector in Dubai.

With over 500 participants, including 80 regional and international speakers across 40 sessions, the summit brought together industry experts under one roof to discuss and deliberate on the most pressing topics, challenges and opportunities facing the world of IPO.

The summit served as a unique occasion to highlight the region’s promising IPO landscape, explore Dubai’s opportunity to become a global IPO hub, attract potential issuers from across the world, outline the ideal formula for a successful public listing, and discuss ESG integration, corporate governance and effective IPO communication strategies.

Hamed Ali, CEO of Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai said, “Dubai has seen dynamic economic and capital market growth over the past year, positioning itself as a hotspot for IPO activity in the region and beyond.

As Dubai is rapidly becoming the home to growth for various types of companies, Dubai Financial Market remains committed to providing them with a platform that supports their ambitions while contributing towards enhancing the emirate’s efforts to support the economic diversification of the UAE as a whole.

“We are pleased with the successful conclusion of the first edition of Dubai’s Mena IPO Summit, and are confident that this paves the path to making this a recurring annual event for industry leaders and businesses to watch out for.”

Meanwhile the second day of the Mena IPO Summit Dubai 2023, organised by the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Dubai World Trade Centre, took place on Tuesday.

The summit, held at the Museum of the Future, aims to mobilise the various players of the initial public offering (IPO) value chain, by providing a platform for dialogue on prospects within the sector while allowing investment companies, family businesses and emerging companies to explore developments to regulatory frameworks and the best practices in Dubai’s financial markets.

Investment experts and companies also discussed environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.

Hamed Ali, CEO of Dubai Financial Market and Executive Director, Nasdaq Dubai, said the summit will become a regular annual event due to the growing turnout that exceeded expectations, as well as the positive reactions, noting that its main purpose is to raise corporate awareness about IPOs.

Ali stressed that the summit’s second day covered ESG practices and their role in the financial and business markets, in line with the development witnessed by the DFM and the UAE’s financial markets.

The summit’s sessions and workshops also discussed investors’ opinions about the market and ways of attracting local and international investment companies, he added.

Gregory Hughes, EY Mena Transaction Diligence, IPO and Sell and Separate Leader within Strategy and Transactions, lauded the summit’s hosting at the Museum of the Future, as it is a motivating tool for exploring the opportunities provided by financial markets, in collaboration with experts in financial and IPO markets.

Roni Johar, Managing Director and Head of Debt and Equity Capital Markets at Arqaam Capital, said that the summit coincides with the robust momentum of Dubai’s IPOs sector and its promising prospects for 2023, noting that it is offering an opportunity to discuss the main factors that influence the success of IPOs.

During the summit’s workshops and discussions, securities companies and experts talked about ways of preparing for future listing.

The summit’s second day also focussed on creating a dynamic and advanced regulatory structure for capital markets and educating market participants on the best practices.

The summit is supported by various pioneer international financial companies, and the launch of this series of IPO summits comes at an ideal time for Dubai and the region’s investment community, in general, in light of the number of major public offerings that highlight the key features of the region’s business sector in 2022, which is expected to gain further momentum in 2023.