Muscat, 9 July 2011 - Nawras was named 'Best IPO in the Middle East' at a glittering achievement awards ceremony held recently in London.   Nawras Company Secretary, Philippe Vogeleer proudly accepted the prestigious award from EMEA Finance magazine, on behalf of the delighted Nawras team.

The judges described Nawras IPO (initial public offering) as an outstanding deal for Oman - stating "not only was it the country's first bookbuilt IPO, requiring joint issuers Morgan Stanley and BankMuscat to develop the process, it was also the biggest listing in the Arab-GCC region in 2010."

After receiving the award, Ross Cormack, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, explained, "Working on this IPO was an exciting and demanding project which involved breaking new ground in Oman, at a time when the global economic situation was challenging. 

"Everyone involved in the process invested huge amounts of time and unrelenting energy to ensure the achievement of a successful outcome for our shareholders.  We are proud to once again be the trailblazers in the Sultanate of Oman, to have completed the IPO so successfully and of course to be recognised for it."

The Nawras IPO was the largest in the Sultanate of Oman since 2005 and the second largest of all time in Oman as well as being the largest in the GCC since 2009.

Operating in its distinctive and pleasingly different way, Nawras was the first company in Oman to complete an IPO using the bookbuild method to determine the share price of the offering based on actual demand from institutional investors.

To ensure IPO success, Nawras undertook a comprehensive educational process for brokers as well as a national roadshows for potential retail investors in major shopping centres where the advantages of this system were clearly explained.  The retail offer was communicated in both Arabic and English through participating banks, reminder and countdown advertising, online media and text messages.

International roadshows were also staged giving the management team an opportunity to outline the Nawras success story in Europe and other countries across the Middle East.

Nawras IPO raised a total of OMR 182 million (over US$472 million).  The initial market capitalisation of Nawras was OMR 456 million (US $1.18 billion), positioning Nawras as a top five Omani company by market capitalisation.

Nawras, a Qtel Group company, was listed on the Muscat Securities Market on 1 November 2010 under the 'nwrs' ticker. At the time of listing, Nawras Chief Executive Officer, Ross Cormack remarked on the incredible achievements of becoming a top five listed company in Oman in only five years.  He also said that Nawras aims to deliver future value to shareholders by capitalising on the dynamic and exciting Oman telecommunications market, achieving this through growing revenues faster than the market, developing new revenue streams in mobile and broadband services and by continuing to be a lean and efficient operator.

-Ends-

Nawras:
Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company SAOG was founded and registered in the Sultanate of Oman in December 2004. It launched its service in March 2005 as the second mobile operator in Oman operating under the name "Nawras". Nawras was awarded the second fixed licence in Oman in 2009, and launched its international gateway in April 2010, its corporate fixed and broadband services in May 2010, and its residential fixed and broadband services in June 2010. Nawras is currently serving more than 2 million mobile customers across the Sultanate. Following a successful IPO, Nawras is listed on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) under the "nwrs" ticker since 1 November 2010.  Nawras is majority owned by the Qtel Group, a leading global telecommunications group, with presence in 17 markets and a customer subscriber base of more than 74 million. Nawras also has a number of significant Omani shareholders which ensures that the company is strongly integrated into the Omani society. Nawras has won a number of awards including Best Employer Asia 2010, Leader in Communications 2010, Customer Service Provider of the Year 2010, and Middle East Mobile Operator of the Year 2007.

About the Qtel Group
The Qtel Group provides a full range of telecommunications services in Qatar and across its presence in 17 countries. Our vision is to be among the top 20 telecommunications companies in the world by 2020 through expansion in both the MENA region and South East Asia.

For further information please contact:
Julie Amann
Press Manager
e-mail: julie.amann@nawras.om
+968 9510 3669

© Press Release 2011