Page 72 - ALEF EDUCATION PR REPORT SEPTEMBER 2024

9/18/24, 2:45 PM Gulf Investors Turn Picky After Share Deal Rush, EFG Hermes Says
For example, Saudi health-care group Dr. Soliman Abdel Kader Fakeeh Hospital Co. recorded the smallest
first-day gain in June for an initial public offering raising at least $100 million in the previous 12 months, just
days after Aramco’s placement was sold out. In Abu Dhabi, Alef Education Holding Plc slumped in its debut in
the emirate’s first IPO of 2024.

Government entities are now allocating more capital to local equity funds to shore up liquidity, Ebeid said.
While ECM-activity in the Gulf is also drawing interest from international investors, share allocations have on
average been skewed toward local investors, he said.

Strong 2025

To be sure, EFG Hermes still expects to conclude another five or six transactions before the end of the year
and anticipates a strong 2025, with the private sector leading supply, Ebeid said.

EFG Hermes, the investment banking arm of EFG Holding, has arranged the most equity offerings in the
Middle East and North Africa so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Egyptian firm has
10% of the market share in share sale activity, ranking above Wall Street giants like JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and overtaking HSBC Holding Plc, which topped the list in 2022 and 2023.

Notable pending transactions include a planned IPO for the exploration and production business of Oman’s OQ
SAOC that could raise about $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month. Similarly, Delivery Hero
SE has hired banks to work on the listing of its Talabat unit in Dubai.

“We’re seeing a number of international companies that want to either list their local operations in Saudi or the
UAE or would like to get a dual list on such exchanges,” Ebeid said.

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