A new Company Law in the UAE, believed to allow families businesses to retain 70 percent of shares while going public, is expected to cause an "IPO frenzy" by raising investor expectations.
Scores of family owned business across the UAE, according to investment analysts quoted in Khaleej Times, are expected to go public as a result.
Minister of Economy and Planning Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi recently indicated the framework of the new law, expected to influence local businesses as well as foreign investors.
"This will replace the existing regulation that requires family businesses to float a minimum of 55 per cent of the shares to become a public joint stock company.," analysts said.
"The removal of this 55 per cent requirement, seen as the main deterrent for most of the profit-making family businesses to go public, will prompt them to transform into public joint stock companies and list themselves on the local stock exchanges," they added
