18 June 2015
MUSCAT: The Muscat Securities Market (MSM) has been witnessing increased activities in the primary market, with several companies broadening their ownership structure through initial public offerings and right issues. The latest to enter the bourse is Oman's Falcon Insurance, which plans an initial public offer of shares.
According to its parent company Al Anwar Holding, which has a 51 per cent stake in Falcon, the flotation is subject to approval by regulators and shareholders.
"Details such as the volume of the offer, price and timing will be finalised and announced after receiving those approvals", Al Anwar said in a statement to MSM yesterday.
According to analysts, all IPOs conducted in the recent time on MSM have performed well, with offerings frequently oversubscribed, in some cases to a considerable degree.
The flotation of Phoenix Power Co, this month, has been heavily oversubscribed, attracting over RO1 billion of bids from investors. The shares are expected to start trading on the local bourse on June 22.
Phoenix Power owns, maintains and operates the Sur Independent Power Project, which generates 2,000 megawatts of electricity and was officially inaugurated in April.
Its offer was the first public share sale in Oman since the floatation last June of power firms Al Suwadi Power Co and Al Batinah Power Co.
To meet the regulatory capital requirement ration set by the Central Bank of Oman, some of the listed banks also resorted to right issues.
Bank Dhofar announced earlier in the year that its board of directors approved a rights issue of up to RO 45 million, while Bank Sohar said its right issue of RO 40.04 million had been oversubscribed.
In the second half of 2014 the market witnessed a number of IPOs totalling to an amount of RO 142.5 million in government stakes offered for public subscription for both Omani retail and institutional investors.
The telecommunication sector witnessed the biggest activity in the recent past with the government offering 71.25 million shares in Omantel to Omani individual investors
The government raised nearly RO 204 million from its sale of a 19 per cent stake in Omantel. With this the government's holding in the telecoms operator dropped to 51 per cent.
Other share sales in 2014 included National Gas, which raised RO 5.86 million in a sale of 20 million shares in mid-April; and Al Maha Ceramics, which sold around 40 per cent of its shares in an IPO that raised RO 7.9 million in September. Two independent power producers, namely the Al Suwadi Power Company and the Al Batinah Power Company, floated shares in May. Al Suwadi owns and operates the Barka 3 power plant, while Al Batinah owns and operates Sohar 2 power plant, both of which are 750-MW plants located in northern Oman.
The government has been keen to encourage local firms, many of them family-owned, to list on the MSM, both to strengthen the base of the private sector and to promote greater involvement from the public in the economy.
In its efforts to encourage more listings by family-owned businesses, the Capital Market Authority has amended the Commercial Companies Law to make it easier to allow private owners to hold onto a larger share of their company while still taking part in the formal capital market.
But many privately held companies have traditionally been wary of going public, largely due to a perceived loss of control associated with selling shares on the MSM.
It was in the middle of 2014 that the government announced its plans to sell shares in 11 of the more than 65 firms currently owned by the state, with the majority of this activity expected to take place between 2015 and 2017.
As part of this plan, in February this year the Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (ORPIC) announced that it planned to float shares in the near future.
MUSCAT: The Muscat Securities Market (MSM) has been witnessing increased activities in the primary market, with several companies broadening their ownership structure through initial public offerings and right issues. The latest to enter the bourse is Oman's Falcon Insurance, which plans an initial public offer of shares.
According to its parent company Al Anwar Holding, which has a 51 per cent stake in Falcon, the flotation is subject to approval by regulators and shareholders.
"Details such as the volume of the offer, price and timing will be finalised and announced after receiving those approvals", Al Anwar said in a statement to MSM yesterday.
According to analysts, all IPOs conducted in the recent time on MSM have performed well, with offerings frequently oversubscribed, in some cases to a considerable degree.
The flotation of Phoenix Power Co, this month, has been heavily oversubscribed, attracting over RO1 billion of bids from investors. The shares are expected to start trading on the local bourse on June 22.
Phoenix Power owns, maintains and operates the Sur Independent Power Project, which generates 2,000 megawatts of electricity and was officially inaugurated in April.
Its offer was the first public share sale in Oman since the floatation last June of power firms Al Suwadi Power Co and Al Batinah Power Co.
To meet the regulatory capital requirement ration set by the Central Bank of Oman, some of the listed banks also resorted to right issues.
Bank Dhofar announced earlier in the year that its board of directors approved a rights issue of up to RO 45 million, while Bank Sohar said its right issue of RO 40.04 million had been oversubscribed.
In the second half of 2014 the market witnessed a number of IPOs totalling to an amount of RO 142.5 million in government stakes offered for public subscription for both Omani retail and institutional investors.
The telecommunication sector witnessed the biggest activity in the recent past with the government offering 71.25 million shares in Omantel to Omani individual investors
The government raised nearly RO 204 million from its sale of a 19 per cent stake in Omantel. With this the government's holding in the telecoms operator dropped to 51 per cent.
Other share sales in 2014 included National Gas, which raised RO 5.86 million in a sale of 20 million shares in mid-April; and Al Maha Ceramics, which sold around 40 per cent of its shares in an IPO that raised RO 7.9 million in September. Two independent power producers, namely the Al Suwadi Power Company and the Al Batinah Power Company, floated shares in May. Al Suwadi owns and operates the Barka 3 power plant, while Al Batinah owns and operates Sohar 2 power plant, both of which are 750-MW plants located in northern Oman.
The government has been keen to encourage local firms, many of them family-owned, to list on the MSM, both to strengthen the base of the private sector and to promote greater involvement from the public in the economy.
In its efforts to encourage more listings by family-owned businesses, the Capital Market Authority has amended the Commercial Companies Law to make it easier to allow private owners to hold onto a larger share of their company while still taking part in the formal capital market.
But many privately held companies have traditionally been wary of going public, largely due to a perceived loss of control associated with selling shares on the MSM.
It was in the middle of 2014 that the government announced its plans to sell shares in 11 of the more than 65 firms currently owned by the state, with the majority of this activity expected to take place between 2015 and 2017.
As part of this plan, in February this year the Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (ORPIC) announced that it planned to float shares in the near future.
© Oman Daily Observer 2015
