Qatar joins Gulf IPO spree as post-World Cup economic plans advance

Al-Monitor Pro Members

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst, Al-Monitor

July 7, 2023

Qatar’s years long IPO drought is over: shares of IT services firm Meeza are set to debut on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) in July 2023 after the company raised roughly $193 million. This comes as the gas-rich Gulf state is trying to capitalize on its $300 billion World Cup investment, with Doha charting an ambitious economic diversification agenda alongside its Gulf neighbors. That’s where Meeza’s IPO comes in — the rare flotation is part of a bid to reinvigorate Qatar’s sleepy equity market and attract more foreign investors. Although World Cups generally boost the stock market fortunes of host countries, the QSE lags counterparts in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have enjoyed an IPO boom recently. However, Doha is making moves to become more competitive and reach developed markets status. That could make Qatari IPOs much more common going forward.