Muscat - The initial public offerings (IPOs) of Al Suwadi Power Co and Al Batinah Power Co are likely to be floated by middle of next year.
In a presentation during the visit of mediapersons to the Barka 3 power plant, Bernard Esselinckx, chief executive officer of Al Suwadi Power, said that the IPOs of Al Suwadi Power, which owns Barka 3, and Al Batinah Power, which owns the Sohar 2 power plant, are likely to be launched by mid-2014.
Esselinckx said, "There will be two IPOs, each offering 35 per cent of shares. Currently we are reviewing the exact timing for the IPO and in a few months we will be siting down to formulate the plans."
He did not however reveal the size of the IPOs, saying that it is to early as both plants have just started commercial production. Esselinckx said that US$1.7bn has been the total investment in both plants.
Sohar 2 and Barka 3 are coastal, gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants with a capacity of 744MW each. These plants achieved full commercial operation on April 3 and 4, respectively.
Together they add almost 1,500MW of power to the sultanate's current existing capacity of about 4,500MW.
Both, Al Suwadi Power and Al Batinah Power are owned by a consortium comprising GDF Suez (with a 46 per cent stake), Multitech, part of Suhail Bahwan Group (22 per cent), Japan's Sojitz (11 per cent) and Yonden (11 per cent) and Oman's Public Authority for Social Insurance (ten per cent).
© Muscat Daily 2013
