Fewer local companies pick UAE bourses for their IPOs

The list of local companies opting for initial public offerings in markets outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi continues to grow.

NMC Health listed on the London Stock Exchange last month, raising £117 million (Dh679.7m).

The company shunned the UAE's exchanges because of their lack of liquidity, emerging-market investors and absence of financial analysts specialised in health care. Metito,a water treatment company headquartered in Jebel Ali, shelved an IPO planned for this year.

But it is most likely to head for London, Hong Kong or Singapore, Rami Ghandour, the executive director of Metito, told The National this month.

DNO International, an Oslo-listed energy company, is planning a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange this year after a merger with Ras Al Khaimah's RAK Petroleum.

Elsewhere, the number of companies with primary listings on Nasdaq Dubai felllast week after a consortium including Mannai Corporation and EFG-Hermes took full control of the jeweller Damas International.

Depa,an interior design company, is also believed to be mulling delisting in Dubai in favour of a Singapore listing.

DP World, among the few companies with primary listings on Nasdaq Dubai, completed a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange last year.

ghunter@thenational.ae

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