A slew of initial public offerings are slated for Dubai’s stock market, its chief executive said.
Essa Kazim, the head of the Dubai Financial Market, said he expects one more listing by the end of the year amid talks with several Dubai companies.
“Certainly the market looks very different from a year ago in terms of the interest and the intentions of the companies,” Mr Kazim told reporters on the sidelines of the official listing of Emaar Malls Group.
EMG on Thursday became the second retail company to list on the exchange after Marka on September 25. Marka jumped 59 per cent on its listing date. The company plans to open a variety of retail outlets, restaurants and cafes across the Arabian Gulf.
Damac, another Dubai developer, planned to convert its London-listed global depositary receipts into shares and list them on the DFM. But the process has been delayed by regulatory red tape, forcing the company to postpone the listing till November.
Damac was unable to secure approval from the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority in time for the exchange offer.
The company, headed by the multi-billionaire Hussain Sajwani, said the listing would go ahead, but “later than expected”, and that it would be on “substantially the same terms as the previous offer”.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
