The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) expects two companies to list their shares on the stock market by the end of 2014, reported The National, adding that these would be the first two initial public offerings (IPOs) in the emirate following a three-year hiatus.

“Normally the IPO process starts with the regulation and after they get the approval from the authority, they come back to the stock market,” explained ADX CEO, adding that “We, as a stock market, are co-operating with other companies that we know are going to go public…and we expect a couple to be launched and listed on the ADX very soon before the end of this year. We are talking to four companies about IPOs. Two of them are in the last stage of the pipeline and will list this year.”

The CEO declined to name the companies or industries in which they operate; however, he said he expects the first government bond to be listed on ADX before the end of 2014. Moreover, several other private businesses may list shares on the exchange without initially selling shares to the public, he noted.

Despite the recent talk of IPOs, many companies seek to avoid the rules that force firms to sell at least a 55% stake to investors, the newspaper noted, adding that Emaar’s IPO of its subsidiary Emaar Malls Group (EMG) is an exception. Emaar received an exemption from the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to sell only 15% of the malls unit on Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

It is worth noting that National Takaful was the last company to float its shares on ADX in November 2011. Moreover, Abu Dhabi-based Gulf Marine Services had listed its stocks on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in March, while Dubai-based real estate developer DAMAC began trading its shares, also on LSE, in December.