Saudi bourse surpasses London in IPO activity

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - The Saudi Stock Exchange surpassed London to be the world's second busiest market for initial public offerings in the first five months, Thomson Reuters data showed.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(NYX.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), thanks to the $19.7 billion listing of Visa Inc (V.N: Quote, Profile, Research), topped the global IPO league table with 12 new issues raising a combined $24.4 billion, up 173 percent year on year.

The total of Saudi Stock Exchange IPOs jumped 322 percent from a year earlier to $8.5 billion as it welcomed Alinma Bank 1150.SE, which raised $2.8 billion in the country's biggest IPO in April.

The Saudi bourse also benefited from the $1.87 billion listing of mobile phone company Zain Saudi Arabia, an affiliate of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co (ZAIN.KW: Quote, Profile, Research), and Petrochemical firm PetroRabigh's 2380.KE $1.2 billion float.

Despite growth on some exchanges, global IPO activity fell 36 percent to $65 billion in the first five months as the global financial crisis dented investor appetite for equity.

IPOs on the London Stock Exchange's (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) main market were down 74 percent to $5.6 billion, while Hong Kong Stock Exchange (0388.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), which ranked fourth in the global IPO market, attracted IPOs totalling $5.2 billion, a 57 percent decline from 2007. (Reporting by Daisy Ku; Editing by Quentin Bryar)