GCC IPOs Raise $3.5 Billion in H1-2025

Kuwait Financial Centre ‘Markaz’ said that the GCC region has witnessed 24 offerings in H1 2025 raising a total of $3.4 billion in proceeds, marking a 6% decrease compared to the previous year, where issuers raised $3.5 billion through 23 offerings.

In its research report entitled “Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in the GCC markets,” Markaz said that Saudi Arabia led the region in terms of IPO proceeds for the first half of the year, raising a total of $2.8 billion through 22 offerings which constituted 85% of the total GCC IPO proceeds during the year representing a 36% increase in IPO value compared with the same period in 2024.

Alpha Data, a software firm in the UAE was the only IPO for the country during the first half of 2025 raising $163 million. This marks 88% decline in proceeds for the UAE compared to the same period last year.

Moreover, Oman’s Asyad Shipping Company was the only IPO in the country during the first half of the year raising USD 333 million. Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain saw no IPOs during the first half of 2025, Markaz said.

Sector Allocation

The industrials sector raised a total of $1.4 billion, accounting for nearly 43% of the total proceeds during H1 of 2025 from offerings led by Flynas’ $1.1 billion IPO followed by Asyad Shipping Company and Itmam Consulting Company.

This was followed by the real estate sector which accounted for 17% of total proceeds for H1 2025 with $576 million of which Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction contributed $523 million.

The Healthcare sector raised $505 million of which Specialized Medical Company’s IPO raised $500 million. The financial services, technology, consumer staples, materials and consumer discretionary sectors contributed 12%, 6%, 4%, 3% and 1% respectively.

Post-Listing Performance

The Markaz report also said that at the end of H1 2025, 10 out of the 24 IPOs had shown positive return compared to their offer price. Asyad Shipping Company which was listed on the 12^th of March 2025, achieved the highest gain at 835% by the end of H1 2025. Saudi Arabia’s Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction Company followed recording a gain of 51% during the same period.

Flynas IPO, the largest on Tadawul and the region during H1 2025, witnessed a 3.4% drop in the first day performance but ended the period recording a 0.2% drop compared to its offer price, the report said.

On the other hand, many companies in the materials sector witnessed negative returns compared to their offer price. Hedab Alkhaleej Trading Co. witness a decrease of 30% in its share price during H1 2025, Dkhoun National Trading Company decreased by 27% and Service Equipment Co. decreased by 26%.

GCC Markets Performance

The GCC equity market indices have experienced mixed performance in the first six months of 2025. Boursa Kuwait outperformed its GCC peers with a 18.1% increase year to date followed by Dubai Financial Market (DFM) with a 10.6% increase.

The Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX) and Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) followed increasing 5.7% and 1.7% respectively. On the other hand, the Muscat Securities Market witnessed a decrease of 1.7%, Bahrain Bourse by 2.1% and Saudi Tadawul by 7.6%.

GCC IPO Pipeline

Saudi Arabia is expecting to continue its dominance in the IPO market with strong activity across multiple sectors by PIF-led listing while the UAE expects to witness activity in the industrials and technology sectors.

Moreover, Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority has officially launched a new regulatory framework to support the listing and trading of emerging companies on Boursa Kuwait in hopes to encourage public listings and enhance the Kuwaiti market, the report added.