ECM drought hits hiring

The equity capital markets landscape in the Middle East has been particularly arid so far in 2009, and the once-buoyant appetite for hiring has dried up alongside it.

Distressing figures from Dealogic show that there have been no ECM deals for over a month - the last one being a $92m share offering by Abyaar Real Estate Development on 16 March. Total IPO activity in the Middle East for Q1 2009 was just $83.6m, down from $3.98bn this time last year, according to Ernst & Young's first quarter Global IPO update.

Sadly, things don't look like picking up anytime soon.

Speaking at the Arab Banking Conference in Dubai, Jeff Singer, chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai said most Gulf firms were likely to hold off raising funds via an initial public offering until the end of this year at the earliest.

"If anything happens in a major way, it is going to happen in the end of the fourth quarter, or most likely coming into 2010," he says.

David Woods, senior client partner, financial at Korn/Ferry International Dubai, says: "There has been very little interest in hiring for that area. There is a tendency for firms to find funding through methods other than the public markets. Recruitment at the moment therefore centres around private equity firms or M&A specialists."

James Sayer, senior manager at Robert Half in Dubai agrees with this sentiment: "This sector has cooled off, particularly in comparison to the phenomenal growth over recent years."

He adds, however, that there is some appetite for those with experience of managing ECM deals in more developed markets in the US and UK, but a decent knowledge of the local markets is required.

Another reason for optimism comes from Abu-Dhabi. Bloomberg, quotes the chief executive of the Abu-Dhabi Securities Exchange as saying around 40 firms are committed to going public in the emirate.

However, he added: "The timing is something we can't predict because you have to have an improvement in the market and not just a temporary improvement."