In 2025 the UAE expects to see $6 billion raised in IPOs, with the leading IPOs predicted to be Etihad and Dubizzle.
IPOs mean more diversity throughout a business – and more women on boards for gender equality.
A quota for one woman on the board was first set in 2021 for the UAE’s listed companies (PJSCs). As of 2025, the same quota has also been set for the hundreds of UAE private joint-stock companies (PrJSCs).
This means there will be a huge demand for board-ready women leaders in the next year or so.
UK data from late 2024 shows that all growth in the number of women directors on FTSE-250 boards has come from Senior Independent Directors (SIDs) (a type of leading Non-Executive Director or NED).
Aurora50’s Pathway is a 12-week board accelerator to help senior women become GCC-based board directors. The next cohort starts in April: we invite applications – both for corporate packages and individuals.
Another big regional IPO this year is expected to come not from the UAE or Saudi Arabia but Oman. Oman’s OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) is expected to raise up to 780 million Omani riyals ($2.03 billion) on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX).
[Related: UAE IPOs 2024 | UAE IPOs 2023 | UAE IPOs 2022 | DEI – part of the ‘S’ and ‘G’ in ESG]
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📈 Under $1 billion raised
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Ambitions Enterprise Management, a Dubai-based tour operator and travel agency, announced terms for its US IPO in March.
Ambitions was founded in 2006 and reported $22 million in revenue in 2024. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol AHMA, to raise $7 million.
A holding company, Ambitions has subsidiaries operating in the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, offering tour operator, travel agency and event planning services.
The UAE’s largest online classifieds platform achieved unicorn status after securing $200 million in funding in 2022.
The group rebranded in 2023, having previously traded as Emerging Marketplaces Group.
Today, Dubizzle Group owns several leading marketplaces in the Gulf region, including Dubizzle itself, Bayut (the UAE’s biggest dedicated real estate portal) and Zameen in Pakistan.
Dubizzle Group has mandated Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley to facilitate its DFM-based deal, worth between $500 million and $1 billion.
It has not confirmed a date or bourse for its floatation.
Etihad is poised to become the first Gulf airline to go public but plans its IPO “no earlier than 2025”, according to sources.
Etihad reportedly considered listing in 2024. It is thought an IPO could raise at least $1 billion.
Based in Abu Dhabi, Etihad is owned by sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), which also has Abu Dhabi Airports and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi in its portfolio,
Etihad, which began flying in 2003, has expanded under new CEO Antonoaldo Neves. Under its Journey 2030 strategy, it plans to boost Abu Dhabi’s role as a travel hub connecting Asia and Europe.
It plans to invest $7 billion over the next five years and to double the size of its fleet by 2030.
In March, Mr Neves told Khaleej Times an IPO “is not the end goal but a natural progression” for the UAE national carrier, noting Etihad is ready for public listing from a governance and financial result standpoint.
But he insisted that “no decision has been made on IPO, as it is the shareholder’s decision”.
FIVE Holdings, UAE’s real estate developer and hospitality group, plans to go public on DFM in 2025, founder and chairman Kabir Mulchandani told Forbes in an interview.
“We’re looking at an equity listing, and the plan right now is 2025,” he said, adding, “We’re very well capitalised now. The goal now is to continue to improve our transparency and our governance, to do the investor calls on a quarterly basis and to act like a public company before we become a public company.”
It also planned to offer employees a “significant portion” of shares.
FIVE Holdings, which manages luxury hotels in Dubai, Ibiza and Switzerland, estimates its worth at $2.5 – $3 billion. It has brought in Citi and Deutsche Bank to manage the IPO.
May Nasrallah, Founder and Executive Chair of deNovo Partners, on allyship, career sponsors and good managers.
Plan to make 2024 inclusive with this free calendar that maps significant inclusion holidays, both in the GCC and internationally, month by month.
![[Aurora50 template] Natasha Hannoun, head of debt at asset management and investment banking firm Shuaa Capital](https://aurora50.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Aurora50-template-Natasha-Hannoun.jpg "[Aurora50 template] Natasha Hannoun, head of debt at asset management and investment banking firm Shuaa Capital")
Natasha Hannoun, head of debt at asset management and investment banking firm Shuaa Capital in Dubai, and board director of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, on her path to company boards.
