Emirates NBD wins two prestigious IFR Middle East Equity awards for leadership in Middle East Capital Markets 2025

3 Min | 24 December 2025

Emirates NBD has been awarded Middle East Equity House of the Year and Middle East Equity Issue of the Year for du’s AED 3.15 billion follow-on offering

Dubai, UAE, 24 December 2025: Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT) region, has been awarded Middle East Equity House of the Year 2025 by International Financing Review (IFR), one of the world’s most respected capital markets publications. In the same awards cycle, du’s AED 3.15 billion follow-on offering, for which Emirates NBD acted as a joint global coordinator, was named Middle East Equity Issue of the Year.

Both programmes served as the sole equity awards focused on the Middle East in IFR’s 2025 edition, highlighting Emirates NBD’s market leadership across regional equity capital markets during the year.

The Equity House of the Year award demonstrates Emirates NBD’s continued development as a regional equity capital markets franchise, supporting issuers across the UAE and the wider region as they access deeper and more diverse pools of capital. In 2025, the bank executed transactions across both UAE exchanges and expanded its equity activities in Saudi Arabia, supporting cross-border investment flows and broader investor participation.

Hitesh Asarpota, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD Capital, said: “These IFR awards recognise our leadership as a global coordinator and our commitment to supporting trusted equity markets in the UAE and across the Middle East. We continue to break new ground with diversified offerings while executing complex transactions to faciliate greater capital flows in the region. As the UAE’s capital markets continue to grow and mature, Emirates NBD will keep supporting innovation, market development and long-term economic growth.”

In the UAE, Emirates NBD played leading roles on several landmark equity transactions that contributed to the depth and maturity of local markets, acting as Joint Global Coordinator on all UAE IPOs in 2025 across both the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). These included Alpha Data, the first family-owned company to list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange; Dubai Residential, the first real estate investment trust to list under the UAE’s new REIT regulations and the first listing of its kind in eight years; and Alec Holding, the largest IPO in the UAE construction sector. Each transaction introduced new issuer profiles or structures to the market, supporting greater sector diversity.

Emirates NBD also acted as a joint global coordinator on du’s AED 3.15 billion follow-on offering, which was named Middle East Equity Issue of the Year. The transaction was the UAE’s first fully marketed secondary offering and the largest secondary selldown on the Dubai Financial Market. It was designed to increase liquidity in du’s shares and broaden its shareholder base following a prolonged period of limited trading.

In addition to the award wins, Emirates NBD delivered strong equity market performance throughout 2025, with Emirates NBD Capital ranking number 1 in the IPO league table for UAE IPOs. The bank also advised on all UAE tender offers, including Aramex, Emirates Islamic and Gulf Cement, while Emirates NBD Securities ranked as the number 2 broker on the Dubai Financial Market, up from number 4 in 2024.

Beyond the UAE, Emirates NBD continues to build momentum in Saudi Arabia with its participation in major transactions including the Flynas initial public offering and ACWA Power’s USD 1.9 billion rights issue.

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