05 June 2013
Muscat: As many as three companies -- Al Maha Ceramics, Sembcorp Salalah Power and Oman Arab Bank -- are planning to come out with initial public offerings before the end of this year.
The first company to come out with the initial public offering is Al Maha Ceramics, whose stakeholders are planning to divest 40 per cent of their holding in the company, which is expected after Ramadan.
Al Maha will convene an extra-ordinary general meeting this month for getting shareholders' approval for the proposed IPO. Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Company, which owns and operates the $1 billion Salalah independent water and power project, is also planning to float an initial public offering this year.
The promoters of Salalah IWPP, which started full operation last year, are diluting their 35 per cent stake in line with a contractual commitment with the government, which stipulates that the IPO has to be floated within a certain period of signing the agreement. The deal for the power project was signed in 2009.
"The company officials have already started discussion with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for the issue. This is going to be a premium issue," Abdullah bin Salem al Salmi, executive president of CMA, told Times of Oman. He said the IPO will be floated in September this year.
Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Company is a joint venture between Sembcorp's wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Utilities, the Oman Investment Corporation and Bahrain-based Instrata Capital.
Sembcorp holds a 60 per cent stake in Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Company, making this the single largest investment by a Singapore company in Oman.
The Salalah IWPP consists of a gas-fired power plant with a total gross capacity of 490 megawatts and a desalination plant with a water production capacity of 15 million gallons per day.
Like other independent power producers, the profitability of Sembcorp Salalah is pre-determined and therefore is not vulnerable to market fluctuations. The price of natural gas (feedstock for power plants) and the price at which power is sold to Oman Power and Water Procurement (OPWP) Company are all pre-determined through long-term contracts.
Likewise, the two partners of Oman Arab Bank (OAB) - Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest) and Arab Bank - are also planning to divest their holding via private placement and an initial public offering. Ominvest is planning to divest a part of their stake in OAB through a private placement, and divest 21 per cent holding in the bank through an initial public offering. Bahrain-based Arab Bank, the second partner of OAB, will divest four per cent stake in the bank in favour of investing public, taking the total divestment via IPO route to 25 per cent.
Presently, Ominvest has 51 per cent stake in the Omani bank, while the remaining 49 per cent holding is with Arab Bank.
Ominvest earlier said that the two partners are planning to offer 290 million shares through an IPO. Meanwhile, Sharqiyah Desalination Company's (SDC) initial public offering of OMR2.4 million has been evoking tremendous response. The share offer, which is open now, will close on June 13. SDC has a paid-up capital of OMR6.52 million.
The shares are available only to individual investors and are priced at OMR1.063 per share, which includes a nominal value of OMR1, a premium of 43 baisas and an issue expense of 20 baisas.
Muscat: As many as three companies -- Al Maha Ceramics, Sembcorp Salalah Power and Oman Arab Bank -- are planning to come out with initial public offerings before the end of this year.
The first company to come out with the initial public offering is Al Maha Ceramics, whose stakeholders are planning to divest 40 per cent of their holding in the company, which is expected after Ramadan.
Al Maha will convene an extra-ordinary general meeting this month for getting shareholders' approval for the proposed IPO. Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Company, which owns and operates the $1 billion Salalah independent water and power project, is also planning to float an initial public offering this year.
The promoters of Salalah IWPP, which started full operation last year, are diluting their 35 per cent stake in line with a contractual commitment with the government, which stipulates that the IPO has to be floated within a certain period of signing the agreement. The deal for the power project was signed in 2009.
"The company officials have already started discussion with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for the issue. This is going to be a premium issue," Abdullah bin Salem al Salmi, executive president of CMA, told Times of Oman. He said the IPO will be floated in September this year.
Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Company is a joint venture between Sembcorp's wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Utilities, the Oman Investment Corporation and Bahrain-based Instrata Capital.
Sembcorp holds a 60 per cent stake in Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Company, making this the single largest investment by a Singapore company in Oman.
The Salalah IWPP consists of a gas-fired power plant with a total gross capacity of 490 megawatts and a desalination plant with a water production capacity of 15 million gallons per day.
Like other independent power producers, the profitability of Sembcorp Salalah is pre-determined and therefore is not vulnerable to market fluctuations. The price of natural gas (feedstock for power plants) and the price at which power is sold to Oman Power and Water Procurement (OPWP) Company are all pre-determined through long-term contracts.
Likewise, the two partners of Oman Arab Bank (OAB) - Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest) and Arab Bank - are also planning to divest their holding via private placement and an initial public offering. Ominvest is planning to divest a part of their stake in OAB through a private placement, and divest 21 per cent holding in the bank through an initial public offering. Bahrain-based Arab Bank, the second partner of OAB, will divest four per cent stake in the bank in favour of investing public, taking the total divestment via IPO route to 25 per cent.
Presently, Ominvest has 51 per cent stake in the Omani bank, while the remaining 49 per cent holding is with Arab Bank.
Ominvest earlier said that the two partners are planning to offer 290 million shares through an IPO. Meanwhile, Sharqiyah Desalination Company's (SDC) initial public offering of OMR2.4 million has been evoking tremendous response. The share offer, which is open now, will close on June 13. SDC has a paid-up capital of OMR6.52 million.
The shares are available only to individual investors and are priced at OMR1.063 per share, which includes a nominal value of OMR1, a premium of 43 baisas and an issue expense of 20 baisas.
© Times of Oman 2013
