'After 40 years of success, the time was right for us to go public, and ring that bell.' – Fayez Ibbini, Alpha Data CEO

Tahawul Tech

26-03-2025

CNME Editor Mark Forker sat down with Fayez Ibbini, the CEO and co-founder of Alpha Data, to find out why the time was right for the family-owned digital transformation leader to become a publicly traded company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) – and how it gives the company greater credibility as it expands in to other markets like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Alpha Data was established in 1981, and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi.
Under the tutelage and leadership of its CEO and co-founder Fayez Ibbini, Alpha Data has become a leading digital transformation provider and systems integrator across the Middle East.
Earlier this month, Alpha Data successfully launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), becoming the first UAE company to go public this year.
The IPO involved the issuance of 400 million shares, representing 40% of the company's issued share capital, at an offer price of AED 1.50 per share. This offering raised AED 600 million (USD 163 million), bringing the company's market capitalization to approximately AED 1.5 billion. (USD 408 million)
CNME secured an exclusive interview with Alpha Data CEO Fayez Ibbini to learn more about the IPO process, and how the landscape has now changed for the company by going public.
Ibbini kickstarted the conversation by highlighting how the IPO process has taken Alpha Data over two years to complete.
'I think there is a perception from some that when they see you ring the bell that signals that you are now a publicly traded company that the decision was made a few weeks ago, but the reality is that the process takes years. Alpha Data started the process of becoming a publicly traded company in late 2022, so it's not like is just occurred to us overnight that we should go public, it's been a lengthy, and at times a very protracted and gruelling process. Alpha Data has been in business for over 40 years, and we first looked at going public back in 2007, and 2008, but then as we all know the global financial crash happened, and we opted out of it. However, it has been something that we have always considered, and in late 2022, we made the decision that the time was right for Alpha Data to go public,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini outlined the mitigating factors that led to Alpha Data to go public, citing that in order to maintain continuity and secure the long-term future of the company, the best option for the IT leader was to go public.
'There were two primary factors for going public, and one of them was the fact that both my family, and my partners families have grown. Between us I have three children, but my partners have over 40, so maintaining continuity and harmony between so many shareholders can sometimes be problematic, so we ultimately wanted to avoid any potential friction in the future. Having guardrails, processes, and governance in place guarantees continuity for the long-haul, whereas if it was all dependent on the founders and the partners then it would be very hard to guarantee that continuity in the long-term. Second and third generation owners tend not to have the same enthusiasm and compassion for the business. Out of my 3 children, only one of them has an interest in the Alpha Data business, and the IT industry in general, so you can't force continuity, and you can't force people to be passionate about a business, or an industry,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini used the analogy of going on a holiday and wanting others to experience that joy you get on a vacation when describing their decision to go public.
Ibbini said the company has now gone from being a family-owned business, to a 'community' of investors.
'I'll use an analogy to describe the other mitigating factor behind our decision to go public. Often when you go on holiday and you have a great time, you wish your loved ones, or others could be with you to enjoy that vacation. At Alpha Data, we've been running this business successfully for over 40 years, and it has been an eventful fulfilling journey, but at some point you would like to open it up to others, and that is what we're doing by going public. It now means that others can enjoy our success, the public can join us, institutions can join us and naturally, it'll become a much broader story than just the Alpha Data founders enjoying the growth story. We are incredibly lucky to have over 7,000 investors in the public listing and over 100 institutions, so now you have a whole community of investors and people rooting for you, and that's a special thing to have,' said Ibbini.
Many companies decide to go public in order to raise capital to reinvest, scale and grow their business, but according to Ibbini, Alpha Data didn't need additional funding.
However, he did concede that by going public it completely changes the perception of the company, especially when attempting to penetrate new markets outside of the UAE.
'As a company we have never borrowed money, and we never really needed funding, so we didn't go to the market to get an increase in capital. Essentially, some of the founders sold some of their shares to the public, so as a company Alpha Data doesn't get an injection of cash into its coffers to grow and invest. We are on a journey of growth, and around 18 months ago we expanded into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we also entered the market in Qatar, and we did this independent of us going public as a company. Where the real value comes for us as a publicly traded company is the fact that it gives you credibility when you enter other markets. In the UAE, we are well-known, we are trusted, but when you step outside of the home market and tell businesses that you are a family-owned company from the UAE then you get a certain reception. However, when you tell them that you are a public company on ADX, then that gives you a different sort of gravitas, and as I said it gives you huge credibility,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini said another factor in giving them huge credibility is the fact that they managed to convince over 100 reputable and well-known institutions to invest significantly into the company.
'To convince over 100 very sophisticated institutions to invest in us, and buy into our equity story is quite a feat. You can't play games when you go public, as an entity that has been in business for over 40 years, people can go through all that data, and can comb through all of that, and find out if you're hiding anything. That gives comfort to us, comfort to our investors, and to the public market, and businesses that are looking at partnering with us in the future,' said Ibbini.
March 11th was the date Alpha Data went public.
However, as Ibbini pointed out the company could not have handpicked a worse day to float their stock, as there was a bloodbath on Wall Street, and across all the major exchanges, including ADX.
Thankfully, Alpha Data performed exceptionally well on its market debut.
'We honestly couldn't have picked a worse day to go public. There was a bloodbath globally on the stock exchange. We came to the market on the 11th, and when the share started trading the whole screen end-to-end was red, the only share that was in the green was Alpha Data. We closed the day by being up around 7%, and I think our market debut showed two things, the first of which is that we went in at a very fair price, probably discounted because we as shareholders we were happy to leave some money on the table. Secondly, those that want to sell don't have an incentive to sell because they know they have a solid company, and if they just sit with it by October, we will be paying our first dividends, and they are getting dividends at the rate of 8.7% return,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini said that what makes Alpha Data such an attractive proposition for investors is the fact the company operates under a 'capital light' model.
'In 2026, we will be distributing 80% of our profit year-on-year, and this is not something that is done easily because we are a growing company, but we run what is described as a capital light model. We don't have factories, we don't construct buildings, it's all intellectual property, fulfilment and delivery, so whatever profit we make, we keep a little bit of it for growth, and the rest of it goes to our shareholders – and that model is a very attractive proposition for anybody,' said Ibbini.
When asked what advice he would give other companies who are potentially looking at going public, Ibbini said it was not for the faint-hearted.
'The first thing that I would say is that it is not for everybody, and what I mean by that is size matters because it is a costly process. If you are a relatively small technology company then the process will cost you tens of millions, so it's not something that you can do on the side. During the IPO process you have top notch international lawyers, auditors, and consultants, and their fees are excessive to say the least. Investment banks take a large chunk of money out of you to help you through the process and list you, so everywhere you look as a public company the cost is high. In addition to this, it is important for you to have good systems and processes in place, and you need to be transparent, because if you do have secrets, or skeletons in the closet, then the public market is not for you. You can't play a game these people will expose you if you have flaws,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini also stressed that if companies do want to go public then they need to display resilience and fortitude, because the process will be littered with obstacles and hurdles at every juncture.
'It is important to highlight that you need a dedicated team to work on this, because this is not a job for one, or two people. We had a 7 people working on this as a team for the last two years, and that takes a lot of energy out of everyone, and especially the CEO, as some of the questions can only be answered by the CEO, and can't be delegated to someone else. The CEO is the person that really articulates the equity story of Alpha Data, and again, that is something that can't be delegated to someone else. When you set a specific target, or a goal such as an IPO, then it is critically important that you have the ability to remain focused on that goal, and not be distracted by the obstacles that you face, because inevitably there is going to be many of them, especially with a process like an IPO. Many businesses struggle with that, and become side-tracked, and as a result many of them give up on their goals, but as I said you need to find a way to both navigate and overcome your challenges,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini also admitted that he is now only discovering that whilst the IPO process was hard, the real hard work is only beginning.
He used another analogy to describe the stage they are at now as a company, saying the IPO was the pregnancy part, now they are raising a baby, and there will be many sleepless nights ahead.
'The other element that I am only discovering now over the last week or so is that IPO is only the start of the hard work! The people at ADX told me that the IPO process that we've been on over the last two years is like a pregnancy, but don't imagine for a minute that the delivery when the baby comes, which is when we rang the bell is the end of your trouble. It's just the beginning of the hard work, and the sleepless nights, and I'm beginning to see that this is accurate. There are so many players in the stock market that want to drive your share price down, they want to buy it on the cheap, they want to drive it up, they play stock price games, but you are trying to run a company, and continue its growth believing that this is the way to protect your share price, but whilst that is a good approach, you have to be cognisant of the fact that there are players on the stock market that are out to destroy your share, so there are things you need to do to protect it from day traders and speculators. So now you've entered into new territory that you never bargained for, you wanted to become publicly listed, you didn't want to play share games, so it's not unusual for people to call me and ask me why shares in Alpha Data went down yesterday, and I don't have the answers,' said Ibbini.
Ibbini concluded a brilliant interview by saying that whilst he will remain focused on driving the growth of the business, he also has to be cognisant of the fact that in order to protect Alpha Data, he has to play what he described as a 'two-track' game.
'The fact of the matter is you have to play a two-track game whether you like it or not. On the one hand you need to manage and grow your company and keep it healthy, because ultimately that is what matters. However, at the same time you can't ignore the day-to-day share fluctuation because there are people out there that can impact the company, but you have to protect the organisation. You have a responsibility to shareholders, you convinced them to invest into your company, so you need your share price to perform. Regardless if the company is performing if the share price is down then that's not a good place to be. They don't like that, you have to take care of that, and it is an ongoing challenge for us as a new company that is now publicly listed on ADX, as I said earlier in the conversation, we are now part of a very big community, and that truly is an exciting place to be,' said Ibbini.