Nomu: What boards need to know about Saudi Arabia’s parallel stock market

Since its launch nine years ago, Saudi Arabia’s parallel stock market Nomu has hosted 145 companies and one REIT, becoming a principal growth venue for private firms seeking public capital. The boardroom calculus has shifted: Nomu listings show a median valuation at offering of 15.4x earnings and 3.9x book value, with 21 companies having graduated to the main Tadawul market. Total market value on Nomu has expanded roughly twenty-five-fold to around SAR 60 billion, and the platform typically handles about two dozen listings a year, more than half in technology, healthcare and logistics sectors aligned with Vision 2030.

"The staircase model works," say experts at Haykala, summarising the case for Nomu as a preparatory market for later main-market listing.

Haykala’s review highlights measurable outcomes for companies using Nomu as a staging ground. Graduates were offered on Nomu at a median 14.0x earnings and now trade at 19.6x on Tadawul — roughly a 40% uplift realised over about two years of "clean public-company execution," the firm notes. Demand at IPO has not been the limiting factor: across 114 primary offerings the typical Nomu IPO was covered 2.7 times (a 271% median), while 32 companies bypassed fundraising and used direct listings. These figures point to strong order-book interest but underline Haykala’s warning that "the real test comes after the first trade, not before it."

The market’s valuation premium over the main exchange has compressed in recent years. Nomu’s premium, which sat at 27–32x in 2022–24, narrowed to 21.9x against 17.8x on the main market and briefly dipped below the main market in March, signalling that a premium is "still a premium – but one that now has to be earned rather than assumed," the advisors say. Structural features of Nomu contribute to this profile: trading is restricted to qualified investors, all pre-offering shares are locked up for a year, and a company can list with as few as 50 public shareholders, conditions that can leave post-IPO liquidity thin and performance widely dispersed.

Regulatory changes in April 2026 broaden Nomu’s use-cases. The Capital Market Authority has opened Nomu to SPACs — allowing a licensed sponsor to raise cash publicly and then acquire an unlisted Saudi company within 24 months, extendable once by 12 months, while dissenting investors can redeem shares from escrow. Separately, publicly offered financing investment funds — credit vehicles previously limited to private placement — can now be marketed on Nomu. Haykala characterises both moves as expanding "more products, more issuers, and more routes into the public market than a conventional IPO alone."

What boards should act on

• Plan the transition from day one: Haykala stresses that the re-rating from 14.0x to 19.6x is earned over two years and against a sustained SAR 200 million market-value bar.
• Price for the aftermarket, not the order book: a 2.7x-covered book can still leave an aggressive offering mispriced for a thin qualified-investor market, creating a weak post-listing chart.
• Prepare 12–18 months ahead: audited accounts, a converted legal form and board-level governance open three routes to market — conventional IPO, direct listing, or merger with a listed SPAC.

The late-2026 pipeline looks healthy, supported by delayed deals from 2025 and above-average regional growth. But Nomu’s evolution means boards must prioritise credible growth, conservative pricing that leaves room for the aftermarket, and governance set before the prospectus is drafted if they want to convert Nomu’s entry opportunity into lasting public-market success.