The step-by-step process behind going public in Morocco — from AMMC approval and prospectus filing to subscription, allocation, and first-day trading.
An initial public offering (IPO), known in Morocco as an introduction en bourse, is the process by which a private company lists its shares on the Bourse de Casablanca and makes them available for purchase by the public. For retail investors, IPOs are one of the few moments when shares are offered at a fixed price before they begin trading on the open market.
Morocco's IPO market has a distinct regulatory framework, centered on two institutions: the AMMC (Autorité Marocaine du Marché des Capitaux), which is the market regulator, and the Bourse de Casablanca (BVC), which operates the exchange itself. Understanding how these bodies interact — and what steps a company must complete before listing — is essential for anyone considering subscribing to a Moroccan IPO.
The AMMC is Morocco's capital markets authority, succeeding the former CDVM (Conseil Déontologique des Valeurs Mobilières) in 2016. Its role in the IPO process is to protect investors by ensuring that companies disclose accurate, complete information before shares are sold to the public.
Before any IPO can proceed, the issuing company must submit a note d'information (information note or prospectus) to the AMMC for review. This document details the company's financials, business model, risk factors, use of proceeds, and the terms of the offering — including the price or price range, number of shares, and subscription period. The AMMC reviews the note d'information and grants its visa (approval) if the disclosure meets regulatory standards. No shares can be offered to the public without this visa.
The Bourse de Casablanca handles the operational side. Once the AMMC grants its visa, BVC manages the admission of the company's shares to one of its market compartments (principal, développement, or croissance, depending on the company's size and track record). BVC also coordinates the technical aspects of listing, including the trading symbol and the date shares begin trading on the secondary market.
In practice, the company also works with a conseil juridique (legal counsel), an auditeur (auditor), and a société de bourse (brokerage firm) that acts as lead manager for the offering.
Not every listing follows the same structure. Moroccan securities law distinguishes several types of public offerings:
Many Moroccan IPOs have combined both mechanisms. For instance, a state-owned company might sell a stake (cession) while also issuing new shares (augmentation) to fund growth.
There are also distinct offering methods. The most common for retail investors is the offre à prix ferme (OPF), a fixed-price offer where shares are sold at a predetermined price. Larger or institutional-focused offerings may use an offre à prix ouvert (OPO), where a price range is given and the final price is determined based on demand. A third method, the offre à prix minimal (OPM), sets a floor price with allocation going to the highest bidders — though this is less common for retail tranches.
To participate in a Moroccan IPO, a retail investor must hold an account with a société de bourse (licensed brokerage firm) or a bank that provides brokerage services. Major Moroccan banks — Attijariwafa Bank, BMCE Bank of Africa, Banque Populaire, and others — offer brokerage access, as do independent firms like Valoris Securities and CDG Capital Bourse.
The subscription process works as follows:
The minimum subscription amount varies by offering but is often set low enough to be accessible to small retail investors — sometimes as little as a few hundred dirhams per order.
The Casablanca Stock Exchange has hosted several landmark IPOs that shaped the market:
Between roughly 2009 and 2020, IPO activity on the Casablanca exchange was notably thin. Several factors contributed: the global financial crisis dampened appetite, Morocco's economy grew at moderate rather than rapid rates, and many large family-owned businesses remained reluctant to go public. Regulatory costs, disclosure requirements, and the relatively small size of the Moroccan market also played a role.
Most Moroccan IPOs include lock-up clauses for major shareholders. These prevent insiders — founders, controlling shareholders, and sometimes institutional anchor investors — from selling their shares for a defined period after listing, typically 6 to 12 months. Lock-ups are meant to signal commitment and prevent a flood of selling pressure immediately after the IPO.
On the first day of trading, the share price is free to move within the daily price limits set by the Bourse de Casablanca. The exchange applies standard circuit breakers — the price cannot move more than a set percentage (historically around ±10% for most compartments) from the reference price in a single session. If the limit is reached, trading may be temporarily suspended.
First-day performance is closely watched. In oversubscribed IPOs, there is often a price jump on the first day as investors who did not receive their full allocation buy on the secondary market. However, this is not guaranteed — some IPOs have traded flat or even below the offering price on day one, particularly when market conditions deteriorated between the subscription period and the listing date.
Price discovery in the days and weeks following an IPO can be volatile. The float — the percentage of shares actually available for trading — is often small in Moroccan IPOs, which can amplify price swings. Investors should expect higher-than-usual volatility in newly listed stocks.
Morocco's IPO pipeline has been thin for much of the past decade. Between 2012 and 2020, only a handful of companies listed on the Casablanca exchange. This stands in contrast to the mid-2000s, when multiple IPOs per year were common.
Several structural factors explain the slowdown:
For investors, a slow IPO market means fewer opportunities to buy into companies at the offering stage. It also means the MASI index remains concentrated in a relatively small number of established names. When new IPOs do occur — as with TGCC in 2021 and CFG Bank in 2023 — they tend to attract significant attention precisely because they are rare.
Moroccan authorities have signaled interest in revitalizing the IPO market. Initiatives to simplify listing requirements for smaller companies, promote the marché alternatif (alternative market) for SMEs, and encourage state-owned enterprises to list partial stakes are all part of the broader effort. Whether these measures translate into a sustained increase in listings remains to be seen.
For a broader overview of how to approach investing in Morocco, see our investment guide. If any of the terms in this article are unfamiliar, the Dalil glossary covers key financial vocabulary used in the Moroccan market.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, a recommendation to buy or sell securities, or a recommendation to subscribe to any specific IPO. Investing in IPOs involves risk, including the potential loss of capital. Always conduct your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions. Dalil is not a licensed broker or investment advisor.
Open Live Dashboard →