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Qatar to launch SME bourse mid 2017 – CEO interview

Qatar to launch SME bourse mid 2017 – CEO interview
QSE CEO Rashid Ali Al-Mansoori (Mubasher's Photo archive)

By: Amr Adel

Dubai – Mubasher: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) is gearing up to launch a small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) bourse during the second half of 2017, QSE CEO Rashid Ali Al Mansoori said Tuesday.

Technically, the market is ready for the launch and there are eight companies looking to get listed on the market, three of which are ready to launch initial public offerings (IPOs), the CEO told Mubasher in an interview on Tuesday.

The listing conditions for the new bourse will be “lighter” compared to the main market, he said, noting that SME capital should not be less than QAR 2 million.

We expect around four IPOs in the Qatari bourse in 2017, two of which will be in the retail sector and two under financial services, Al Mansoori revealed.

Construction specialist Investment Holding Group was the last IPO seen on the QSE in 2010.

There are currently 44 listed companies on the QSE, while market capitalisation amounts to QAR 557.54 billion, according to data released in December.

Responding to a question on the possibility of launching an IPO for the QSE itself in the bourse, the CEO told Mubasher that the issue depended on the bourse’s majority shareholder, namely the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign fund.

Speaking to Mubasher on the sidelines of the Arab IPO Summit 2017 in Dubai, Al Mansoori said that the QSE was looking to attract more foreign companies on the long-term as most of the currently-listed companies are local ones.

The QSE is also currently working on developing a mechanism to boost market liquidity to increase trading and share liquidity, the top executive revealed, adding that the bourse was in talks with two companies to receive the market liquidity, or what is known as the market-maker, licence.

The bourse has also received two requests to launch two investment indices funds, one Islamic and the other traditional, both of which will likely be launched in the first half of the year, according to the CEO.

 

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi