It’s been a long, barren fall season for the IPO market in the MENA region. If December is any indication, the drought in the market is expected to carry through to the first quarter of 2009. Only three IPOs managed to raise a paltry $14.54 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to 17 IPOs with a value of $7.55 billion in the forth quarter of 2007. As of mid-December, 53 regional IPOs have raised $13.24 billion in 2008, a nine percent drop compared to $14.42 billion raised by 69 firms in the same period of 2007. The only successful IPO to debut in the forth quarter was Syria’s Bank Al Sharq, which raised $9.78 million. The floatation, managed by Bemo Saudi Fransi was 438.24 percent oversubscribed. But Syria’s attempt to break the IPO slump ultimately failed and the slump-o-meter registered zero IPO announcements in December. However, analysts say
