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IPO activity in the early months of 2026 in the UAE is set to reverse the low performance of the market this year, with as many as nine mandates currently in the works, according to various sources.
One UAE banker described the market as “headed in the right direction” after 2025 has witnessed ebbing activity in regional equity capital markets (ECM). According to the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence report, with 40 IPOs raising a combined $5.81 billion so far this year, IPOs in the GCC are set to raise the lowest amount of cash since the pandemic-affected 2020.
Despite a slump in proceeds raised due to the poor performance of some companies after their listing, the outlook for 2026 “looks promising” to analysts.
“We already have five to six mandates for the first half of next year, plus another three that we aren’t working on but are aware of in the market,” the banker said, adding that it would be challenging to make space for all the transactions in a limited IPO window, so some overlap between deals may be inevitable.
The UAE’s IPO window usually gains momentum during the first five months of the year before tapering off for the summer. The market usually picks up speed once again in Q4, ahead of the year-end holidays. However, next year’s window could be a tight one, with the month-long Ramadan expected to start by mid-February, followed by the Eid break, a period that historically sees the market shy away from public offerings.
Despite the shorter time frame, several high-profile IPOs are expected in 2026, including Etihad’s public offering, which is expected around Q2, according to another UAE banking source. With the airline backed by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, this $1 billion listing is expected to be one of the biggest of the year.
Other companies rumoured to come to market in 2026 include the Dubai-based real-estate developer Binghatti and online classifieds giant Dubizzle Group, which decided to delay the IPO.
A Bloomberg report in September also noted Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC lining up banks to arrange a potential initial public offering in 2026.
“We see strong interest from real-estate players that will take advantage of current market conditions, but industrials, technology and fintech are the other sectors that may come into play next year,” said Lorenzo Vertechi, Senior Director of ECM at Emirates NBD Capital.
Analysts anticipate that deal volumes will remain good in 2026, but values may not reach the highs of the mega offerings seen earlier, partly due to a shift toward more private companies’ IPOs, while the government privatisations that have come to market this year have been smaller than their predecessors.
According to one UAE banker, you may get the one-off Aramco or similar offering with a $12-billion secondary share sale, but if you take them out of the equation, others in the private sector would never be able to match that.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
