Abu Dhabi Royal’s Firms, IPOs Propel UAE Bourses to $1 Trillion

Stocks listed in the United Arab Emirates are now worth more than $1 trillion for the first time, helped by a surge in firms tied to an Abu Dhabi royal that account for more than a third of the total value, and a flurry of local listings.

That makes the combined UAE market, which includes exchanges in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, bigger than Milan or Madrid. While dwarfed by the nearly $3 trillion Saudi Arabian bourse, the UAE is larger than most emerging markets, barring a few like India and China, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A particularly eye-catching feature of the $1 trillion milestone is the weighting of companies linked to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The royal — one of Abu Dhabi’s two deputy rulers, the UAE’s national security adviser and brother to its president — has emerged as one of the most important names in global business and sits atop a $1.5 trillion empire.

That includes International Holding Co., which is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon and is the UAE’s largest public company. IHC has surged over 43,000% in the past few years, giving it a market capitalization of close to $250 billion — a quarter of the combined exchanges’ value.

Locals own 88% of IHC, according to data from the Abu Dhabi bourse. Once an obscure fish-farming company, the firm is now at the forefront of a drive to diversify the UAE’s economy away from oil. The company and its units — some of them listed in Abu Dhabi — have made investments spanning everything from Rihanna’s lingerie line and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Aldar Properties PJSC, the emirate’s largest property developer.

Sheikh Tahnoon is also chairman of First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, which last year considered an offer for Britain’s Standard Chartered Plc. Together, the lender and IHC have a weighting of over 50% on Abu Dhabi’s benchmark FTSE ADX General Index.

The $1 trillion milestone has long been coveted by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, and the stock market’s growth reflects their ambitions to turn the city into a global financial center. Members of the emirate’s Al Nahyan clan expect rising values to attract international capital and encourage local investors to keep their money in the country, Bloomberg News reported in April.

A string of new sales

The UAE stock market is part of the widely-tracked MSCI Emerging Markets Index, comprising 1.2% of the benchmark, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. IHC is not a member of the index, while its units Aldar and Multiply Group PJSC — as well as First Abu Dhabi Bank — are included.

The surge to $1 trillion was also helped by a string of new share sales in the country. The UAE, alongside Saudi Arabia, has led a rush of listings in the Gulf since 2021 as governments sought to raise cash to diversify economies. A wealth fund overseen by Sheikh Tahnoon in 2020 bought a stake in Lulu International Holdings, the parent company of the hypermarket chain operator that pulled off the UAE’s biggest listing of the year.

That rush of deals is likely to continue, including a potential offering of Abu Dhabi flag carrier Etihad Airways, Delivery Hero SE’s Middle Eastern unit Talabat and IT services firm Alpha Data.

Despite mounting regional tensions, the Dubai Financial Market General Index continues to trade near 2014 highs due to the city’s economic and population growth. It’s leading gains among all Gulf benchmarks this year with a 17% advance, while Abu Dhabi stocks are trading 1.4% lower in 2024.