Exits Reimagined: Navigating Liquidity When IPOs and M&A Slow Down

Exit routes across the region are no longer following the old playbook. IPO windows are narrowing, M&A timelines are stretching, and the gap between what sellers expect and what buyers are willing to pay keeps widening. For investors and founders alike, liquidity has stopped being a predictable finish line and become something that has to be actively engineered.

This session brings together investors and dealmakers to unpack what is really driving the slowdown across MENA markets, and how the smartest players in the ecosystem are adapting. Expect a grounded conversation on secondaries, structured exits, and extended hold strategies, and what these shifts mean for fund performance, LP expectations, and how portfolios get built when the traditional exit timeline no longer applies.

Key discussion points: • What's actually slowing down exits across the region right now • The valuation gap between buyers and sellers, and why it persists • Alternative liquidity paths: secondaries, structured exits, longer holds • What this means for fund performance and LP expectations • Building portfolios for a market where exits take longer