Oman's Nama Group plans to raise $1.18bln in third tranche of Lamar Project

Nama Group has floated an open tender that is limited to established local and international banking institutions for organising long-term funding to support the capital expenditure (capex) programme of transmission and distribution companies. The companies are Oman Electricity Transmission Co, Mazoon Electricity Co, Muscat Electricity Distribution Co, Majan Electricity Co, Dhofar Power Co and Rural Areas Electricity Co.

The objective of the tender is to appoint a mandated lead arranger to raise an amount of RO453mn approximately for the period of 2019-2021.

The funds raised by the long term funding arrangements would be utilised to meet the capex needs for expansion and enhancement of the transmission and distribution networks and refinance short-term loans, Nama Group said in a press release.

There are three phases under tranche 3 of Lamar Project: Phase 1 will be the organising of short-term loans, phase 2 will be the ‘advisory’ phase and phase 3 will be the ‘arrangement/implementation’ phase, including the hedging advisory and execution for the associated fund raising.

Nama Group is in its growth phase as it plays a very significant role in the development of Oman’s economy. The group has invested heavily in capital assets to expand and develop its networks and systems to satisfy the requirements and demands of the market.

Availability of capital funding is critical to the successful achievement of Nama Group’s objectives. The group has made significant progress in Lamar Project since its launch in 2014. Nama Group, led by Nama Holding, has successfully raised funds of RO1.72bn across various funding sources and tenors.

Diversification of sources, optimisation of rates and hedging of the interest rates have helped the Nama Group achieve its target financial cost metrics efficiently within their allowed price control returns, while meeting the electricity security standards.