The company also said that this offering, in which all of the shares on offer were purchased, revealed the large amount of investor interest from investors in Iraq, the Middle East, and the world over.
According to the contract with the Iraqi government, Zain Iraq, Asiacell, and Cork were all bound to commence the initial public offering IPO process in August 2011, but for undisclosed reasons, none of them were able to meet that deadline.
Economist Jawad al-Shammari says that the mobile phone companies believe that the Iraqi market is on the verge of a significant growth period. Shammari adds that mobile phone company IPOs on the Iraqi stock market would encourage small investors, and even ordinary people, to invest by purchasing shares. He added that, “The stock market needed this boost so it could convince the Iraqi people that it is an appropriate place for them to grow their money.”
Omar al-Shaher is a contributor to Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications including France’s LeMonde, the Iraqi Alesbuyia magazine, Egypt’s Al-Ahaly and the Elaph website. He previously worked for Al-Mada covering political and security affairs and as a correspondent for the Kuwaiti Awan newspaper in Baghdad in 2008-10.
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