UAE IPOs are officially in ‘wait-and-see’ mode

The UAE’s IPO pipeline has officially slipped into wait-and-see mode, with execution windows for 1H 2026 effectively closed as the regional conflict rattles market sentiment, EnterpriseAM UAE reports.

Big-ticket listings are being pushed to late Q3 or Q4, including offerings by Etihad Airways and Dubai Holding’s property units, while Emirates Global Aluminium grapples with damaged infrastructure after an Iranian attack. Despite foreign investors pulling AED 1.06 bn from both the ADX and DFM in March, issuers look more likely to kick to a different window than they are to go offshore, suggesting that domestic liquidity (including the omnipresent promise of sovereign capital…) is the ultimate backstop.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital blew past its initial target to raise USD 900 mn for its third Brazil fund, drawing backing from international pension funds and private investors alongside a USD 250 mn anchor from its parent, the Financial Times reports. A third of the capital has already been deployed into distressed Brazilian assets. The fund is showing no sign of backing away from its overseas strategy despite some pundits suggesting that it might pivot inward to plug domestic infrastructure risks amid ongoing attacks from Iran.

Saudi retail giant BinDawood’s acquisition spree continues: BinDawood Holding bought a 51% stake in food manufacturer Vaza for SAR 217.9 mn, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The retail giant is using the deal to push into premium confectionery and specialty foods. It’s the latest in a string of acquisitions — including Zahrat Al Rawdah ; a majority stake in toy distributor Toy Triangle; and a 51% stake in Dubai-based Wonder Bakery — as BinDawood builds out well beyond its grocery roots.

Aramco Ventures backed US-based industrial separations player Via Separations in aUSD 36 mn funding round to scale its modular filtration platform — currently applied to pulp and paper — into the refining and chemicals sectors. It’s a targeted play by the Saudi energy giant to acquire technologies it needs to drive efficiency and cut emissions across its own industrial assets.

Egyptian fintech Lucky secured USD 23 mn in a series ‘B’ mix of equity and debt, drawing capital from Suez Canal Bank and OneStop alongside existing backers Disruptech Ventures and Nclude, per a statement (pdf). Lucky will use the injection to grow its credit products, expand across North Africa, and build the regulatory and technical backend for a transition into neo-banking.

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Egypt is temporarily listing five state-owned firms on the EGX today, opening a six-month window for the entities to get their paperwork and finances in order before active trading begins. The Madbouly government is looking to restart its privatization push — who is interested in recycled state-owned enterprises in the absence of a significant marketing effort is very much an open question.

Al Rajhi Capital locked down SAR 2.5 bn in facility agreements from Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi Awwal to refinance debt and fund future acquisitions, per a Tadawul disclosure. Al Rajhi Bank committed SAR 1.75 bn of the total.

Cairo-born Ades Holdinginked a contract with Syrian Petroleum to maintain and develop gas fields in Syria. The agreement targets a 25% production increase within six months, rising to 50% by year’s end. The Syrian Petroleum Company recently restarted production at fields in north-eastern Syria relinquished after years of Kurdish control, but more than a decade of military and economic turmoil has left the fields and related infrastructure — including pipelines — severely degraded, with industry insiders saying it would take years to bring them back to full capacity.

IBF & Company finalized its acquisition of a stake in industrial storage manufacturer Techno Metal in a deal valuing the target at roughly EGP 500 mn (USD 9.1 mn) — a push deeper into logistics on the heels of its December acquisition of a 50% stake in cross-border trade platform Diatom CBT.

Saudi luxury flash-sale platform Maison Safqa closed a USD 620k pre-seed round anchored by 500 Global and the founder of European flash-seller Ventes Exclusives. The capital will fund a doubling of its brand portfolio to 100 and the launch of offline sales events in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia’s push to privatize its aviation infrastructure drew 89 bidders — 55 local and 34 international — for the Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz International Airport development phase, per a statement. Matarat Holding and the National Center for Privatization & PPP are moving forward with a 30-year build-transfer-operate concession after calling for expressions of interest earlier this year.

Market Snapshot

Tadawul -1.6% • ADX -0.3% • DFM -0.8% • EGX30 -0.8%

Brent USD 94.33 / bbl • Gold USD 4,803.50 / oz • USD / SAR 3.75 • USD / EGP 54.69