The Initial Public Offering (IPO) market in 2008 was vibrant in the region before investor confidence was sapped by the global financial disaster. The Bahrain Tribune reported that after specific instructions from the Central Bank of Bahrain, an IPO that was tipped to be one of the country’s biggest, that of real estate and construction supervisor Naseej, was postponed due to the instability caused by the financial crisis. Other major IPOs have also been delayed due to the uncertain market conditions, including Vodafone Qatar and Gulf Capital. Last year Q4 saw 17 IPOs raise $7.54 billion but this year, at the end of October only three IPOs had occurred raising $22.4 million. This is further compounded by the announcement that in Saudi Arabia, 80 companies have postponed IPO plans. Nonetheless, the IPO news for 2008 was significant including for Q3, which bucked global trends. “Six of the largest 20 IPOs
