Salik IPO more than 49x oversubscribed: Dubai’s toll gate operator pulled in over USD 50 bn of orders during the subscription period for its market debut, according to a statement (pdf) to the Dubai Financial Market. The company is offering a 24.9% stake (1.9 bn shares) at AED 2.00 (USD 0.50) per share to raise USD 1 bn. Trading is set to begin this Thursday, 29 September.

Advisors: Our friends at EFG Hermes and HSBC are joint bookrunners alongside Citigroup, while Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are global coordinators.

The Dubai market is hoping fresh listings can make it one of 2022’s only bright spots for global equities as soaring inflation and rising interest rates pause IPOs elsewhere. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s shares jumped as much as 23% on their trading debut in April. The July listing of Dubai business park operator Tecom Group didn’t fare as well, dropping 17% on its debut after being oversubscribed.

ALSO IN THE UAE- Financial services firm Rothschild will move its equity advisory practice for Asia to Dubai to capitalize on the region’s IPO boom, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Gulf IPOs have enjoyed a record-breaking year while listings in Hong Kong have followed a similar trajectory to other areas of the world, with proceeds falling 78% y-o-y amid volatility in the financial markets. Rothschild is currently one of the advisors on Americana Group’s IPO debut of KFC and Pizza Hut on the ADX and Tadawul.

REMEMBER- Abu Dhabi has also transformed itself from a reasonably sleepy IPO backwater into one of the region’s hottest markets, up 18.1% YTD thanks to a run of successful transactions including the USD 2 bn offering of petrochemicals firm Borouge in June.

Analysts are starting to talk about a fresh financial crisis in Asia: Asian currencies are feeling the heat of the Fed’s aggressive tightening cycle, leading analysts to speculate about a new financial crisis in the region if the greenback continues its relentless rise, Bloomberg writes. Both the Japanese JPY and the Chinese CNY have fallen heavily against the USD this year, a trend that could drag down other currencies in the region and trigger mass outflows if it keeps up. “The CNY and JPY are big anchors and their weakness risks destabilizing currencies to trade and investments in Asia,” said one analyst. “We’re already heading toward global financial crisis levels of stress in some aspects, then the next step would be the Asian financial crisis if losses deepen.”

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.4% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 725.14 mn (24% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 17.2% YTD.

In the green: Abu Qir Fertilizers (+3.4%), Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (+3.0%) and Eastern Company (+2.0%).

In the red: GB Auto (-3.2%), Credit Agricole Egypt (-3.1%) and Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (-2.6%).

Shares in China and Hong Kong are an island of green in a sea of red this morning as last week’s sell-off continues in earnest in Asia. Both the Nikkei and the Kospi are down more than 2% while the ADX is 1.3% lower. Shares in Europe and the US will follow them later today, according to stock futures.