Dubai: About 50 per cent of the Emirates NBD’s clients preferred to subscribe to the recently concluded IPO (Initial Public Offering) through an ATM or online banking channels, indicating rising acceptability of investors going for convenience at their finger tips.

“This response to a new and easy subscription mechanism indicates a strong appetite among individual investors in the UAE for ‘on-the-go’ investment solutions,” Abdullah Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer at Emirates NBD told Gulf News. Emirates NBD was one of the lead receiving banks for the Emaar Malls IPO.

Emirates NBD received 6,187 applications in total for shares from retail investors, of which 2,865 were via their digital conduits for a recently concluded IPO, Qassem said.

Retail investors, who subscribed to shares over 20 times the amount of shares available to them, of Emaar Malls Group had various options of applying to the IPO either by going to the branch or through an ATM or by eIPO platform by using the debit card and the unique investor number.

“The main advantages of online subscription are convenience, simplicity and speed. Customers can avoid a trip to the branch or lengthy queues as they may have experienced previously, by applying in the comfort and security of their homes,” Qassem said.

The new techniques will be helpful for investors bracing for a strong IPO pipeline later this year and in 2015.

“This fantastic response to the highly user-friendly and simple process of digital subscription is encouraging and we hope to continue to offer our customers simpler and more innovative solutions in the near future,” Qassem added.

Resurgent economy

The recent IPO revival in the UAE is a reflection of Dubai’s resurgent economy. In addition to underscoring the DFM’s performance, it is also driven by the UAE’s upgrade to emerging-markets status by MSCI. The growing interest from foreign and local investors has energised the markets, Qassem said.

Marka’s IPO last month was the first one after a hiatus of 5 years. The much-talked about Emaar Malls Group also got listed on October 2, plus many more family owned businesses have shown intentions to list on exchanges. Dubai Financial Market may have one more IPO before the end of the year in addition to health care start-up Amanat.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange expects at least two listings by the end of the year, although they are talking to 4 potential companies. ADX has been trying to get more companies in health, retail, education, petrochemicals to become a part of the index.