Latest news with #IPOs
Khaleej Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE capital markets poised for growth as global investors pivot to Gulf
The UAE, particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is emerging as a global magnet for capital, bolstered by rising foreign investor appetite, strong fundamentals, and a robust pipeline of initial public offerings (IPOs) across diverse sectors. As global markets navigate an era of elevated tariffs and macroeconomic uncertainty, the UAE's financial markets are standing out for their stability, depth, and reform-driven momentum. This sentiment was evident at HSBC's fourth annual GCC Exchanges Conference in London, which brought together over 300 institutional investors and more than 100 corporates from the Gulf region. All seven GCC stock exchanges, including the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), participated in the event, highlighting the region's increasing importance in global capital allocation. With the UAE accounting for $1 trillion in market capitalisation at the end of 2024, international interest in its financial ecosystem continues to surge. According to HSBC, the share of Global Emerging Markets (GEM) funds with UAE exposure has nearly doubled since mid-2021, rising from 35 per cent to 65 per cent. This rise is underpinned by investor confidence in the UAE's regulatory reforms, economic resilience, and a widening array of sectors — from renewables to logistics and retail — now opening to public investment. 'Global investors are recalibrating for resilience, and the GCC's balance sheet strength and sophisticated financial ecosystem make it a capital magnet. The UAE offers one of the most compelling growth stories in emerging markets today,' Nabeel Albloushi, head of Markets & Securities Services for MENAT at HSBC, said. Albloushi emphasised that the UAE's deepening capital markets and sectoral diversification provide a fertile ground for sustainable capital deployment. The rising foreign institutional participation reflects a shift in strategy by global asset managers seeking exposure to high-yielding, stable, and reform-oriented markets. The UAE's IPO momentum, particularly in Dubai, remains strong. Dubai Financial Market's total market capitalisation stood at Dh951 billion as of June 2025, underscoring its growing appeal to institutional investors. 'Dubai's capital markets are gaining increasing global prominence, reflecting investor confidence in the emirate's long-term economic trajectory,' said Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai. 'The scale of value we offer continues to attract international capital looking for growth-oriented and well-governed opportunities.' In 2024, the UAE featured prominently in the GCC's record-breaking IPO landscape. Despite a global slowdown in capital raising, the GCC recorded IPO proceeds that were 33 per cent higher in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Much of this growth was driven by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where government-led privatisation efforts and regulatory liberalisation are reshaping local equity markets. Abu Dhabi has played an equally strong role in advancing the UAE's capital markets agenda. Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, CEO of ADX, highlighted the exchange's expanding global footprint. 'In the first five months of 2025 alone, net foreign investment in ADX reached around Dh11 billion, a 78 per cent increase compared to the same period last year,' Alnuaimi said. 'Foreign trading values have soared by more than 347 per cent over the past five years.' ADX is also benefitting from increased sectoral breadth, with foreign investors showing growing interest in companies from energy, financial services, technology, and logistics. Alnuaimi stressed that the exchange's focus on transparency, governance, and sustainable practices supports long-term investor engagement. The UAE's growing allure is not limited to equities. Fixed-income and private credit platforms are expanding, giving investors broader tools to tap into the region's growth story. Sovereign and corporate bond markets are deepening, backed by strong fiscal buffers and stable credit ratings. The UAE's non-oil GDP growth, projected at 5.3 per cent in 2025 by the Central Bank of the UAE, adds to the investment case. With Dubai and Abu Dhabi pushing forward with economic diversification, the structural shift toward a knowledge-based economy is well underway. Sectors such as technology, hospitality, green energy, and infrastructure are witnessing rising capital inflows. For emerging market strategists, the UAE stands out among peers. According to HSBC, the country's GDP growth is expected to outperform the broader EM average over the next three years, providing a relative haven for global capital amid weaker projections for traditional emerging economies. Capital market analysts argue that as tariff tensions and geopolitical headwinds steer investors toward stable, reform-oriented destinations, the UAE appears firmly on the radar — offering both safety and upside. 'With continued reforms, strategic privatisations, and a diversified investment universe, the Emirates are well-positioned to remain a key pillar in the global capital raising landscape.' The London conference also featured top UAE corporate leaders including Hesham Heikal of Emaar Properties, Faisal Falaknaz of Aldar Properties, and Areeb Pasha of Dubizzle. Their engagement with international investors underscored the UAE's ambition to align corporate strategy with sustainability, innovation, and global capital flows. The outlook for the UAE's capital markets remains bright as government policies continue to encourage listings, enhance transparency, and integrate ESG considerations. The growing institutionalisation of capital markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi signals a long-term structural shift rather than a cyclical upswing.
South China Morning Post
08-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
HSBC to grow investment bank to serve IPO demand from Asia and Middle East start-ups
HSBC will expand its investment banking business to serve the rising demand of companies from Asia and the Middle East for initial public offerings (IPOs), said the co-CEOs of the bank's biggest profit centre. The plan aligns with the bank's restructuring to focus on high-return areas like Hong Kong and India, as well as exit low-profitability markets like Europe and the US. Hong Kong sits atop the world's IPO league table, after 27 companies raised US$9.96 billion this year as of last week, according to the London Stock Exchange Group. India's two bourses – the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange – ranked fourth and fifth in the same period, with 113 companies raising US$7.72 billion. 'We have taken out the mergers and acquisitions [as well as] the equity capital market [businesses] from the UK and the US markets,' said David Liao, HSBC's co-CEO for Asia and the Middle East, in an interview on Thursday. 'We want to redirect [growth towards a] deeper focus on Asia and intra-Asia opportunities.' HSBC's co-CEOs for Asia and the Middle East, David Liao (left) and Surendra Rosha (right), during an interview at HSBC's head office in Central on June 5, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Wong Hong Kong, one of the two cities where HSBC was founded in 1865, was a listing market as well as a hub for international investors, Liao said, which prompted the bank to expand its capacity to serve the growing population of wealth management clientele beyond the city's 7.5 million population.
News.com.au
04-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Return of the IPO market good news for miners
IPOs have ground to a halt, with no mining listings on the ASX through May But a wave of new explorers and producers are about to hit the bourse Delta Lithium's gold spinout Ballard Mining and Telfer owner Greatland Gold among the high profile names While markets have been volatile in the past few months, a positive sign for the mining market is a pick-up in initial public offerings. Lion Selection Group (ASX:LSX) managing director Hedley Widdup recently pointed out that IPOs were one of the best barometers of the mining cycle because they reliably tracked liquidity. 'When liquidity is poor, it is very hard to achieve an IPO of an exploration company, and likewise when liquidity is freely flowing, investors gobble these up,' he said in Lion's recent quarterly report. In the peak of the market, in 2021, there were 105 mining IPOs. That fell to 64 in 2022, 25 in 2023 and 15 in 2024. There have technically been none yet this year. Canada's Marimaca Copper dual listed on the ASX earlier this year but as it did not raise funds, not a single share has traded in the two months since its debut. Southern Cross Gold Consolidated re-listed on the ASX with a new code after merging with Canada's Mawson Gold. 'In 2025 so far, there have been zero IPOs of resources companies that raised new money to achieve a brand-new listing, which is a litmus test that shows liquidity conditions generally remain subdued,' Widdup said. Test starts today Today, the ASX will welcome its first proper resources IPO this year when Robex Resources debuts. Robex is based in Perth but listed in Toronto and managing director Matt Wilcox recently said poor liquidity on the TSX was behind the move to Australia. The Jim Askew-chaired company, which operates a small mine in Mali and is developing the larger Kiniero mine in Guinea, raised $120 million in its IPO. Meanwhile, new Telfer owner, London-listed Greatland Gold, is pushing ahead with its ASX cross listing which is expected to raise $50 million. Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Atlantic, developer of the Nimba iron ore project in Guinea, is expected to launch an Australian IPO shortly. CEO Bronwyn Barnes, who also chairs ASX-listed explorer Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA), said Australia was the right place to list Ivanhoe. 'When you're talking about the market that understands iron ore, Australia is a perfect market for this company and for this product, and it also has a very strong familiarity of African projects,' she told the recent AFR Mining Summit. 'But a little bit more broadly than that, at Ivanhoe Atlantic, we've got a bit of a bigger vision about what we'd like to do, not only with the Nimba project, but other projects that we're interested in acquiring. 'And I think being present on the ASX platform gives us opportunities to either acquire or partner with other existing assets or companies on the development of other assets.' AIM-listed Ariana Resources and Toronto-listed Orezone Gold are also progressing Australian dual listings. Right time for Delta Last month, Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) announced it would spin out its Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia's Goldfields into new company Ballard Mining. Mt Ida has a resource of 10.3 million tonnes at 3.33 grams per tonne gold for 1.1 million ounces of gold. Delta managing director James Croser told Stockhead the company had focused on getting the Mt Ida gold project to a point where it could support a listing, which would allow Delta to countercyclically focus on its lithium projects. 'The gold market timing has lined up nicely as well, and it just seems like the best time for us to set it free,' he said. On Friday, Ballard lodged a prospectus for a $25-30 million IPO, led by Bell Potter Securities and Argonaut. 'The quantum of the raise was a much-discussed number,' Croser said. 'We felt we probably could have got some more, and the market would have delivered on that … the valuation we've put on those 1.1 million ounces that exist there, they're really compelling metrics, and the market will see that, and it has seen that, and a lot of the feedback we've got is that it is extremely well priced. 'That was by design, because you've got to leave something on the table for the new money to enjoy an uplift and you really want to establish that momentum early on in the life of a listing, and we think it's going to run pretty hard and be very successful, and I can't wait to see it happen.' Delta will retain a 46-49% stake in Ballard, depending on the final amount raised. Croser will sit on the board, which also features former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill, while Delta chief development officer Paul Brennan will resign to become managing director of Ballard. Former Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) chief financial officer Tim Manners will be Ballard's finance director, while Gold Fields' former Australian boss Stuart Mathews will be a non-executive director. Juniors awakening Ballard, which is aiming to hit the board in mid-July, isn't the only explorer on the way to the ASX. Bauxite developer VBX is scheduled to list on the ASX next week after launching a $10 million IPO last month. The company is planning to use the funds to complete a definitive feasibility study on its Wuudagu bauxite project in WA's Kimberley region, which has a resource of 95.9Mt and a reserve of 59.3Mt. VBX also holds the earlier stage Takapinga bauxite project in the Northern Territory. Last week, LinQ Minerals lodged a prospectus for an IPO to raise $7.5-10 million. LinQ is chaired by Clive Donner, a former investment banker and founder of mining private equity fund LinQ Group. The company owns the Gilmore copper-gold project, south of Evolution Mining's Cowal mine in New South Wales. Gilmore has a resource of 1.2 million ounces of gold and 120,000 tonnes of copper. LinQ is aiming to close the IPO on June 20 and list on July 4.
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Hong Kong IPOs, Share Sales Surge 600%
Hi, it's Julia Fioretti and Dong Cao in Hong Kong, where the mood is picking up thanks to some blockbuster deals in the capital markets this year. Elsewhere, it's a different story for IPOs in Saudi Arabia. Today's top stories
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Gujarat: ED opposes bail of Bahubali Shah in ‘money laundering' case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opposed a plea seeking regular bail, filed by director of Lok Prakashan Ltd, Bahubali Shah, who was arrested in connection with a case of alleged money laundering. The agency, in its submissions filed on May 31 before the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural), claimed that evidence showed Bahubali 'possessed the proceeds of crime by acquiring IPO (initial Public Offering) shares of NTPC and TCS which were reserved for retail category,' through corporate entities. The ED said that it had come across the evidence while investigating a 2016 complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) against two corporate entities and their directors and that entities were under investigation. In the complaint by SEBI, M/s Excell Multitech Ltd, M/s Zenet Software Ltd and their directors had been named as accused in cases of alleged 'irregularities' detected in the IPOs. On May 15, the ED raided the offices of Lok Prakashan Ltd -run Gujarat Samachar newspaper in Ahmedabad and arrested Bahubali. He complained of uneasiness and was first moved to V S Hospital and then, on the request of his family, to Zydus Hospital where he was admitted to the ICU. He was granted interim bail by a local court for treatment, on May 16. Bahubali then moved a the regular bail application, which came up for hearing on May 31. The ED submission, accessed by The Indian Express, stated that the aforementioned corporate entities had provided finances to M/s Sugandh Estates and Investments Pvt Ltd (SEIPL), which in turn, opened a large number of fictitious accounts and fraudulently cornered the IPO shares of TCS and NTPC that were meant for retail investors. On the basis of the SEBI complaint, the ED then registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on August 16, 2023 to investigate into the aspect of 'money laundering'. Subsequently, the agency issued summons to the directors of the said corporate entities. In her statement to the ED on November 28, 2023, accused Saryuben H Vora, director of both companies, had shared details of the sources of income of both the firms which had 'cornered the shares of TCS and NTPC'. 'M/s Lok Prakashan Ltd gave Rs15 crore to M/s Zenet Software Ltd and Rs5.86 crore to M/s Excell Multitech Ltd. Further, the court submission further stated that Shreyansbhai S Shah gave Rs3.3 crore to M/s Zenet Software Ltd and Shreyansbhai S Shah HUF gave Rs2.86 crore to M/s Excell Multitech Ltd,' stated the submission by ED. The ED also said that 'the ledger books of the accused corporate entities allegedly revealed that Lok Prakashan Ltd received 6,46,922 shares of NTPC and 13,780 shares of TCS, while Rs10.94 crore were refunded to it by M/s Zenet Software Ltd and Rs4.74 crore were refunded to it by M/s Excell Multitech Ltd via Demand Drafts. Shreyansbhai S Shah (Managing Editor of Gujarat Samachar) received 85,600 shares of NTPC and Rs2.769 crore were refunded to him by M/s Zenet Software Ltd. Further, Shreyansbhai S Shah HUF received Nil shares and Rs2.86 crore were refunded to it by M/s Excell Multitech Ltd.' The ED submission further stated that it sent four summons to Bahubali, the then Managing Director of M/s Lok Prakashan Ltd, between December 27, 2023 and February 21, 2024. Bahubali appeared before the ED on February 28, 2024, and allegedly submitted that Dhiren Vora, associated with the accused companies, and son of Saryuben had approached him and said he would receive financial benefits if he provided funds to him. The ED said that when further documents were sought from Bahubali and summons issued, he allegedly neither submitted the documents, nor appeared before the agency. The ED further sent three summons to Bahubali on March 2, 14 and 28 last year but he allegedly neither appeared nor submitted the documents, 'thereby not cooperating with the PMLA investigation'. After a search was conducted at the premises of Bahubali in Ahmedabad's Satellite area on May 15, this year, his statements were taken wherein he allegedly undertook to submit the sought for documents within the two weeks, the ED said. It further said: '…there are reasons to believe based on material in possession, that Bahubali S Shah is actively involved in acquisition, possession, concealment, and use of proceeds of crime obtained and derived as a result of criminal activity relating to scheduled offences (by acquiring IPO shares of NTPC and TCS which were reserved for retail category) and he is guilty of the offence of money laundering under section 3 of PMLA, and punishable under section 4 of PMLA; hence he was arrested under section 19 of PMLA. The analysis of the material gathered and statements of various persons recorded under section 50 of PMLA clearly points out that Bahubali Shah is guilty of the offence of money laundering. Disclosures made by Bahubali Shah under PMLA, warrant his custodial interrogation.' The ED's submission also stated, 'Further, Bahubali Shah is the son of the founding editor of Gujarat Samachar and a highly influential person having family business running across various sectors including construction, chemical industry, fishing, trade and financial services. Therefore it is possible that Bahubali Shah may influence the witnesses/ other co-accused.' Advocate Devang Vyas, appearing for Bahubali had told The Indian Express that they had sought time to file a reply and the matter had been adjourned till June 10, 2025.
