World’s Best Investment Banks
Investment banks in the Middle East enjoyed a transformative 2025 with record-breaking Sukuk issuances and high-profile IPOs.
In 2025, the Middle East’s investment banking landscape was defined by an increase in strategic transactions, as companies and governments alike sought to capitalize on post-pandemic growth, energy diversification and capital markets reforms.
As Middle Eastern countries accelerate their economic diversification and regional integration, these top investment banks are playing a key role in shaping the region’s financial future.
Best Investment Bank
KFH Capital
KFH Capital leads some of the largest mandates in the Middle East, successfully executing over $60 billion of transactions since launching in 1999. The Shariah-compliant firm is particularly strong in DCM, where it led 16 issuances for both sovereign and corporate clients in the region through 2025. Major sovereign mandates include a $1 billion sukuk offering for Egypt, Oman and Qatar. On the corporate side, KFH serves some of the highest-profile clients in the region, particularly in the energy sector. This includes a $3 billion sukuk issuance for Saudi Aramco and a $1.5 billion sukuk issuance for ADNOC in the UAE. More broadly across the region, KFH issued $500 million in tier-1 capital securities for the state-owned Turkish Islamic bank, Vakıf Katalim Bankasi. Additionally, the issuance of a $600 million lease certificate for TT Verlik Kiralama was the first of its kind for a Turkish telecommunications company.
M&A
standard Chartered
Standard Chartered Bank’s M&A franchise in the Middle East serves large multinational clients through a team of over 130 bankers with broad sector experience in the oil and gas, metals and mining, diversified industries and cleantech industries. These capabilities, coupled with the bank’s long-term tenure in eight countries in the region, help the firm secure significant M&A mandates.
The Bank was the sole financial advisor to Saudi Aramco in its acquisition of a 25% stake in UniOil Petroleum, one of the largest independent oil companies in the Philippines.
This helped Aramco diversify its supply sources. In the power and energy sector, the bank advised Abu Dhabi’s Multiply Group on the 3.9 billion Emirati dirham (about $1.1 billion) sale of its district cooling business in the UAE. On the African continent, Standard Chartered advised industrial infrastructure developer Arise on all transaction elements of the equity capital investment to facilitate the execution of the deal. The bank also advised Indian multinational Tata Group’s Titan watch manufacturing and fashion products subsidiary on its acquisition of a 67% controlling stake in Dubai-based luxury retailer Damas Jewelery at an enterprise value of more than Dh1 million.
equities
EFG Hermes
Based in Egypt and active for 40 years on two continents, EFG Hermes’ Middle East franchise covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with additional presence in Kenya and Nigeria. With this broad footprint across the region, EFG Hermes demonstrated its leadership in ECM by securing 15 mandates spanning multiple sectors. These included a number of IPOs, including the $449 million offering of Alamosa Healthcare in Saudi Arabia, the approximately $323 million offering of online retailer Nice One, the $500 million offering of Specialized Medical, and the raising of 252 million Saudi Arabian riyals (about $67 million) from vehicle-lease firm Cherry Trading.
Al Masr Al Shamil, one of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s leading education groups, strengthened its position with 599 million riyals in IPO proceeds. In the UAE, construction firm Alec Holdings raised $381 million, while IT services and consulting firm Alpha Data raised $163 million to expand its digital offering in the region. As part of Oman’s privatization strategy and capital markets reforms, state-owned maritime operator Asyad Shipping launched its IPO, raising $332.8 million. Additionally, EFG Hermes facilitated a dual listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange for Egypt’s Orascom Construction.
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KFH Capital
KFH Capital continues to advance Islamic finance in the region by arranging several large Shariah-compliant transactions for sovereign and corporate issuers. During 2025, the Bank arranged a $1 billion Sukuk private placement for the Egyptian government. In Oman, a $1 billion sukuk issuance represents the country’s first international capital markets transaction since 2021. For the State of Qatar, the Bank participated in a $4 billion issuance, consisting of a $3 billion sukuk and a $1 billion conventional bond offering, issued at the lowest credit spread ever for the country. The firm also acted as bookrunner when Saudi Aramco raised $3 billion in sukuk. And a $1.5 billion sukuk issuance for UAE-based ADNOC was one of the largest high-end corporate Islamic debt deals ever. For the state-owned Saudi Real Estate Refinancing Company, KFH facilitated a $2 billion issuance that will help expand the country’s housing finance market.
