The Kingdom is set for another strong year of IPOs, with 31 listings in the pipeline, 26 of which are announced, while another four are mandated and one is rumored, according to a report by Kamco Invest (pdf). The GCC as a whole is projected to see approximately 40 IPOs this year, with 30 announced, four mandated, and six rumored.

Key listings to watch out for in 2025:

• The PIF’s Saudi Global Ports has tapped banks including Goldman Sachs and HSBC to arrange an upcoming IPO;
• Medical procurement firm Nupco — a unit of the PIF — has reportedly tapped Rothschild & Co as financial advisor for its potential Tadawul IPO;
• PIF-backed Tabreed District Cooling has also reportedly hired Citigroup and SNB Capital to manage a potential IPO on Tadawul;
• Budget airline Flynas is reportedly looking to go public this year;
• BNPL platform Tabby plans to IPO during the 2025-2026 window;
• Local tech services firm Ejada Systems has secured approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) last month to take a 45% stake to market.

Saudi Arabia topped the GCC in terms of listing volumes in 2024: The Kingdom was home to the bulk of IPO activity in the GCC last year, leading in terms of the number of listings. Some 42 out of a total of 53 IPOs across the region originated from the Kingdom, raking in USD 4.1 bn in IPO proceeds (3.6% of global IPO proceeds). Nomu — Tadawul’s parallel market — saw 28 listings last year, while the main market attracted 14 listings. Globally, the Kingdom ranked seventh in IPO proceeds, trailing the UAE which secured the fifth spot. The positive performance of recent IPOs in the Kingdom compares to recent disappointing debuts in other markets, including Talabat Holding and Lulu Retail in Dubai, as well as OQ Base Industries in Oman, Bloomberg said recently.

Strong investor appetite for Saudi stocks: Tadawul’s largest IPO of the year, Fakeeh Care’s USD 2.9 bn offering, garnered USD 91 bn in orders from institutional investors, booking the biggest volume of orders in 2024. The institutional tranche of the IPO was 119x oversubscribed. This was followed by Almoosa Health’s USD 1.7 bn IPO with a 103x oversubscription in 4Q and beauty retailer Nice One’s USD 1.2 bn IPO which was nearly 140x covered.

How the biggest IPOs of 2024 have been faring: Shares of Fakeeh Care are currently up 18.6% from their debut price of SAR 57.50 per share. Almoosa Health, which debuted at SAR 127.0 per share, is now trading at SAR 138.20, marking an 8.8% rise. Meanwhile, Nice One’s stock currently sits at SAR 58.50, reflecting a gain of 67.1% from its debut price.

The Tadawul IPO Index — which measures the performance of IPOs on Tadawul within the last five years — closed up 1.6% yesterday and is up 4.7% YTD. This indicates that companies that have recently gone public have been experiencing positive market movements, fueled by strong investor confidence and favorable market conditions, possibly encouraging more companies to consider going public. The index is a sub-index of TASI and is calculated based on the freefloat market cap of the constituents.

ZOOMING OUT- The GCC saw an uptick in IPO activity last year, recording 53 listings, up from 46 in 2023, with total proceeds rising 19.8% y-o-y to USD 12.9 bn, supported by strong appetite from the region’s large base of local investors. Despite challenges including high interest rates, declining oil prices, and geopolitical tensions, the region secured its second-highest IPO proceeds over the last five years, ranking fourth worldwide in total IPO proceeds.

By the sector: The commercial & professional services segment led the GCC IPO space in terms of volumes with 10 IPOs in 2024, featuring Saudi Manpower and Tamkeen HR, according to the report. Other prominent sectors included Consumer Services and Materials with 7 IPOs each, followed by healthcare (6) and F&B (5).

Global IPO activity saw a continued downturn for the third consecutive year, marked by a decrease in both the number of transactions and the funds raised. According to data from LSEG, the total number of IPOs last year was 1.2k, down from 1.3k in the previous year. In terms of proceeds, IPOs generated USD 112.8 bn in 2024, reflecting a 1% drop from the previous year and marking the slowest IPO activity since 2009.