Saudi IPO Summit relocates to Dubai

Conference organisers IIR Middle East were forced to postpone the two-day conference, which was originally planned to take place in Riyadh earlier this week, due to administrative issues.

The two-day conference will endeavour to try and help stabilise the Saudi market and help restore investor confidence after a volatile year, which recently saw the Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) rally to 8,600 points after previously dropping to a 21 month low of 8,019 points.

Deep Marwaha, Conference Manager for Saudi IPO Summit said,

"It was unfortunate that we had to postpone the event in Riyadh, but Dubai will provide an equally suitable venue. Inevitably there will be minor changes to the programme but we have retained the full support of industry bodies and the focus of the summit remains unchanged. We want to try and restore investor confidence and help stabilise the Saudi market."

Debate and discussion will take place amongst investment experts, regulators and market leaders, on regulatory and industry standards, corporate governance and transparency, reporting standards and internal audit.

The bullish performance of the Saudi stock market in 2005 saw the TASI finish the year up over 60 per cent at 16,712 points and market capitalisation registered robust growth of 110 per cent, to stand at over US$ 645 billion. However, on November 11, stocks slumped to a 21 month low of 8,019 points wiping over US$ 300 billion off share values. The recent rally which added 600 points has done little to address the underlying issues responsible for the erratic behaviour of the market.

The summit will examine the role IPOs can play in broadening the total number of stocks available and improving investor confidence. It will also provide essential information to private companies looking to go public, many of which are family businesses. The event will also address the costs associated with IPOs and the long-term obligations of public companies as well as the critical factors underpinning oversubscriptions, over-pricing and macro-economic issues affecting IPOs.

"The Saudi bourse has great potential, but to achieve that, investors must gain a common understanding of the true nature of IPOs. Market performance must be driven by sound fundamentals such as proven pricing techniques and evaluating market trends, not just sentiment," added Marwaha.