.jpg)
Over the past few years, public offerings have surged as a favored exit route across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reshaping the region’s capital markets. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 300 IPOs have raised roughly $50 billion in the GCC. In 2024 alone, the region set records with 53 listings raising $13.2 billion. Saudi Arabia has led this boom: in 2024, the Kingdom executed 42 IPOs raising $4.1 billion (about 31% of GCC proceeds). Crucially, many Saudi IPOs have significantly rallied in aftermarket trading.
This case study examines the dynamics behind this IPO wave, drawing on GCC-wide data and a detailed Saudi case study. Key drivers include Vision 2030 economic reforms, privatization programs, and expanded foreign participation.
Globally and in MENA, exits by mergers and trade sales traditionally dominated venture and private equity. As one industry roundtable noted, privately-held tech exits through IPOs have been extremely rare -on the order of a few percent- with roughly 98% of exits occurring via M&A or buyouts. Reasons included the speed, certainty and relative ease of private deals versus the regulatory rigors of public offerings.
However, the pendulum is shifting. Cheaper financing, buoyant markets and evolving corporate strategies have made IPOs more attractive. Public listings allow founders and investors to realize gains at higher valuations, often retaining operational control while taking partial liquidity.
IPOs also boost company profiles and provide ongoing secondary-market liquidity for shareholders, appealing especially to institutional and growth investors. These factors, combined with active development of regional equity markets, have steadily opened the door to IPO exits that might have been previously bypassed.
In this new environment, GCC startups and mature firms are increasingly eyeing IPOs instead of “selling out” early. The rise in tech- and consumer-focused listings is evidence: companies built on ambitious growth -from fintech to healthcare- are choosing public listings to fund expansion rather than agree to preemptive M&A exits. Moreover, capital markets reforms are explicitly designed to create more IPO venues, e.g., through eased rules and dual-market structures.
In short, the exit strategy landscape in the Gulf is now multi-faceted: while M&A remains possible, IPOs are an established and viable alternative for value realization, particularly in Saudi Arabia’s maturing financial ecosystem.
The Gulf’s equity markets have witnessed an unprecedented resurgence of IPO activity. After 2020’s economic shock, regional exchanges have diverged from global slowdowns; nearly 300 Gulf IPOs have raised ~$50 billion since 2021. In 2024, the GCC IPO tally reached 53 offerings (a record high), raising $13.2 billion, up 25% from 2023. IPO counts have roughly doubled from the previous year.
Sectoral diversity has driven this activity. Wealthiest deals have come from new-economy segments: e-commerce (e.g., Dubai’s $2.0B Talabat food-delivery IPO), retail (Abu Dhabi’s $1.7B Lulu Holdings), and even education and digital services. In 2024 alone, regional IPOs spanned grocery chains, IT/e-commerce platforms, education and healthcare providers, financial services, transportation, and real estate. This broad mix reflects the GCC’s push into non-oil industries and growing private entrepreneurship.
The table below summarizes 2024 IPO volumes and proceeds by country: Saudi Arabia led by count, the UAE by amount.
Table 1: IPO deals and proceeds by GCC country, 2024. Source: Markaz (via Arab News) and PwC.
Overall, the GCC’s IPO momentum has been remarkably resilient and broad-based. Unlike past cycles dominated by oil-price swings, the upswing has persisted even as commodity prices fluctuated. A majority of new listings (about 60%) have seen first-month share-price surges, signaling strong investor appetite. In short, the post-2021 surge reflects a structural evolution of the regional exit market, underpinned by new sectors and more active capital pools.
Saudi Arabia’s stock market has undergone a remarkable transformation under Vision 2030, becoming the region’s largest exchange and a dominant force in MENA’s IPO landscape. In 2024, the Kingdom accounted for 42 of the region’s 53 IPOs, over 75% of new deals, raising $4.1 billion, or 31% of total GCC proceeds. About a third of these listings were on the main Tadawul market ($3.8 billion via 14 offerings) and the rest on the parallel Nomu exchange ($0.3 billion via 28 offerings).
Tadawul’s growth has been extraordinary: its market capitalization climbed from about $500 billion in 2014 to $2.7 trillion by the end of 2024, a 463% increase, driven by more than 90 IPOs over the decade, which together raised around $65 billion. While the landmark 2019 Aramco IPO contributed $29.4 billion, the momentum has since shifted toward private-sector and diversified commercial listings.
Saudi IPOs have also delivered the strongest aftermarket performance in the region. In 2024, the average first-week post-IPO return was around +45%, with most Tadawul listings trading above the issue price by year-end. Several emerging companies, including Miahona and Purity IT, saw share prices more than double within weeks, underscoring robust domestic demand.
Aligned with Vision 2030’s economic diversification agenda, Saudi listings span a broad range of non-oil sectors, from e-commerce and education to healthcare, retail, and technology. Notable 2024 offerings included Fakeeh Hospital, Almoosa Healthcare, and tech-enabled auto dealer Nice One. The Nomu exchange, in particular, has become a launchpad for high-growth SMEs; 27 of its 2024 listings were digital and tech firms targeting the Kingdom’s young, increasingly tech-savvy population.
Table 2: IPO proceeds by sector in the GCC, 2024. Source: Markaz (via Arab News)
Several factors have converged to make IPOs the go-to exit in the GCC, especially Saudi Arabia:
In sum, Saudi IPO momentum is driven by a combination of deliberate policy push (Vision 2030 reforms, privatizations) and organic market forces (capital supply and industry growth). The same underlying dynamics -enhanced market access, liquidity, and investor base- have influenced other GCC markets as well, but Saudi Arabia’s scale and pace are unmatched.
Market participants and officials anticipate the Gulf IPO surge to continue. Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange expects 2025 to be a “record year” of listings. By early 2025, well over 50 Saudi companies are reported to be in advanced stages: roughly 15 IPO applications were already approved, and 100 more firms are preparing filings. The first four months of 2025 saw 23 new Saudi IPOs (a nearly 20% increase year-on-year), raising SAR 7.1B. The pipeline is broad: announced prospects span healthcare, education, fintech, consumer retail and renewable energy (e.g., approved deals for a bank, an education firm, and Flynas aviation).
Region-wide, PwC and others project steady momentum into 2025, backed by continued government support and investor interest. New listings in high-growth niches -technology platforms, healthcare services, sustainable energy- are expected to draw crowds. Economies such as the UAE, Oman, and even Qatar are reportedly preparing sizable IPO plans of their own, though none approach Saudi Arabia’s scale.
Nevertheless, outcomes will depend on market conditions. In the Kingdom, monetary policy and oil prices could influence timing, and the abundant liquidity that fueled initial enthusiasm may wane if global rates rise. Continued execution discipline (e.g., realistic valuations, transparent corporate governance) will be essential to sustain confidence.
Yet the structural backdrop remains favorable: a diversified economy under Vision 2030 needs capital markets as funding channels, and investors have shown both patience and appetite for new issuers. As long as regulators and companies keep up reforms and corporate disclosures, the IPO window in the Gulf is likely to stay wide open.
The GCC’s IPO renaissance has redefined exit strategies in the region. Saudi Arabia stands at the forefront, demonstrating how a concerted policy push -from Vision 2030 diversification goals to capital-market liberalization- can activate public listings as a mainstream exit path.
Access to large amounts of equity capital, higher valuations for issuers, and the option for founders to retain control have made IPOs an increasingly attractive way to realise investment returns. While risks like market concentration and execution complexity persist, the Saudi example shows that with the right infrastructure and reforms, these challenges can be managed.
In sum, the IPO is no longer a distant “gold standard” reserved for mega-entrants; it is now a practical, and even preferred, exit channel for a wide range of Gulf companies. Saudi Arabia’s sustained IPO leadership suggests that if emerging markets globally embrace similar financial reforms and market-building efforts, the IPO opportunity set could expand dramatically.