Gulf banks that built out IPO teams for the boom are now chasing fees in Egypt, Turkey, and India as listings at home dry up

Gulf-based banks that built out capital markets teams for the region’s IPO boom are putting them to work elsewhere this year. Gulf IPO volumes have slid to under USD 1.1 bn so far this year — falling below sub-Saharan Africa’s USD 1.37 bn for the first time and set to drop further once Dangote Petroleum Refinery prices its USD 1.6 bn Lagos listing, the continent’s largest-ever IPO, Bloomberg reports. The reversal is sending Gulf-based banks hunting for fees elsewhere — from Cairo to Istanbul to Mumbai.

Where they’re redeploying: HSBC — usually near the top of Gulf ECM league tables — has instead led Turkish secondary offerings this year, raising USD 552 mn across seven transactions, nearly double 2025’s volume. It still has more than 50 active mandates across the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey but hasn’t closed a single Gulf IPO in 2026, according to regional capital markets co-head Mohammed Fannouch. EFG Hermes is leaning into Egypt instead — working with Citigroup on a Cairo listing for MNT-Halan’s local business, plus IPOs for Banque du Caire and Misr Life Ins. Emirates NBD has gone further afield still, taking a majority stake in India’s RBL Bank as it plans to expand its investment banking operations in the country and co-arranging Airtel Money’s London listing alongside First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Some state-backed lenders are taking a different route: leaning into government-to-government ties. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank recently ran the books for the London-Tashkent dual listing of Uzbekistan’s National Investment Fund — work that traces back to a string of Abu Dhabi-Tashkent investment partnerships over the past year.

REMEMBER- We reported in early September that the UAE’s IPO pipeline has screeched to a halt so far this year, with Dubai Holding, Emirates Global Aluminium, and Binghatti all pausing or shelving listings. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, owners aren’t willing to list at what the market will now pay, and after a year in which most new listings lost money, investors aren’t willing to pay more.

A recovery is expected later this year and in 2027, though in the UAE, any reopening will likely be led by follow-ons, not fresh IPOs, analysts have told us. Over in Saudi Arabia, EFG Hermes’ Christopher Laing says he’s inking “lots of new business” in the Kingdom but expects much of it to launch in 2027. In the pipeline: Humain is eyeing an IPO — though no timeline has been disclosed — while Tabreed and Richard Attias & Associates also planned 2026 listings earlier in the year.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed in early trading, with South Korea’s Kospi up around 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei flat. Meanwhile, Wall Street extended Monday’s losses, as broad risk-off sentiment weighed on almost all sectors.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM fell 0.8% yesterday on turnover of AED 921.7 mn. The index is down 0.2% YTD.

In the green: National Cement Company (+4.8%), Dubai Islamic Insurance and Reinsurance Co. (+4.8%), and Lunate S&P UAE UCITS ETF - Share A - ACCUMLATING (+2.7%).

In the red: Sukoon Takaful (-4.9%), Al Mazaya Holding Company (-4.8%), and National General Ins. Company (-4.8%).

Over on the ADX, the index rose 0.2% on turnover of AED 974 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai was down 0.3%.