Given the ongoing weakness in regional equity markets right now, it’s no surprise that the IPO market is still on the ropes. Many financial analysts from Ernest & Young, UBS, Gulf Capital, Global Invest and others maintain that 2009 will experience slow growth in IPO opportunities, and equity capital markets desks from Dubai to Saudi Arabia are sitting on their hands. But some market observers are optimistic about the ice jam breaking for IPOs in the near-term, especially sometime in the second half of 2009. “The IPO window is closed for the moment due to prevailing market sentiments,” Ali Khan, executive director of capital markets at Arqaam Capital says. “However, six or nine months is a long time in capital markets, especially these days… once there is a better understanding of pricing trends, stock markets may rally well before house prices actually reach bottom, as investors will take a 12
