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For Goldman, Saudi Arabia Will Remain King of Mideast IPO Deals

  • Dubai Inc.’s IPO drive will reshape local index, Goldman says
  • New York-based bank sees more deals from Saudi Arabia and UAE
Photographs on display inside the Saudi Stock Exchange, in Riyadh.

Photographs on display inside the Saudi Stock Exchange, in Riyadh.

Photographer: Mohammed Almuaalemi/Bloomberg
Updated on

Saudi Arabia will remain the busiest of the Middle East’s stock markets, even as the United Arab Emirates pushes more companies to go public, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

John Wilkinson, the bank’s London-based head of emerging-market equity capital markets, called 2021 a “standout year” for the Persian Gulf. Initial public offerings by ACWA Power, Solutions by STC and Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co. in Saudi Arabia, as well as several others in Abu Dhabi, pushed Middle East and North African equity issuance to about $23 billion.