Figures released by KAMCO indicate that capital raised through initial public offerings (IPOs) in the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which include corporate IPOs and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) IPOs, totaled $2.7bn in 2018, constituting a decline of 18.2% from $3.3bn in 2017. There were 18 IPOs in the GCC in 2018, down from 28 IPOs in 2017, relative to four IPOs in 2016 and six IPOs in 2015. Further, capital raised through IPOs in the GCC region accounted for 1.3% of total capital raised through IPOs worldwide, while the number of IPO deals in the region also represented 1.3% of the number of global IPOs in 2018. There were 11 IPO deals in Saudi Arabia that raised $1.3bn in 2018, followed by two IPOs in each of the UAE ($251.1m) and Oman ($119.1m), and one IPO deal in each of Qatar ($754.5m), Kuwait ($213.2m), and Bahrain ($31.5m). Further, there were 10 corporate IPOs, which raised $1.7bn in capital, or the equivalent of 62% of total capital raised in 2018, and eight REIT IPOs that raised $1bn, or 38% of total capital last year. The iron & steel industry raised about $754.5m in 2018, followed by the oil & gas sector ($226.1m), the leisure time industry ($217.9m), and the distribution & wholesale sector ($213.2m). In parallel, the aggregate number of IPOs in GCC countries totaled 81 deals during the 2013-18 period, while the aggregate amount of capital raised through IPOs in the region reached $12.9bn in the covered period. 
Source: KAMCO, Byblos Research