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Oman’s methanol, ammonia and LPG producer OQ Base Industries (OQBI) has set its offer price range between 106 Omani baisa ($0.28) and 111 baisa ($0.29) per share as the company prepares for its IPO on the Muscat Stock Exchange in December.
The company is expecting to raise up to 188 million Omani rial ($490 million) at the top of the range, with a valuation of OMR 385 million ($1 billion).
The offering comprises a total of 1.69 billion shares, representing 49% of OQBI’s total issued share capital. Parent company, Oman’s state oil group OQ SAOC will retain the remaining 51%.
OQBI has also named four anchor investors, including Falcon Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.
The remaining anchor investors include Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation, the Saudi Omani Investment Company and the Social Protection Fund of Oman.
Each has committed to subscribe to 7.5% of the offering, or up to OMR 56 million, aggregating to 30% of the offer, at top of the range.
The Category I offer is for institutional investors, representing 30% of the total offer size, priced between BZS 106 and BZS 111, with the final price set following a bookbuilding exercise.
The subscription price for the Category II offer for retail investors is set at BZS 111 per share.
The subscription periods open on 24 November 2024,.
OQBI shares are expected to commence trading on the MSX on 15 December 2024.
The company expects to pay a dividend of OMR 32.7 million for the fiscal year 2024, for the first nine months in January 2025 and the remaining three months in April 2025.
Bank Dhofar SAOG, Bank Muscat SAOG, and Morgan Stanley & Co. International have been appointed as joint global coordinators, with Bank Dhofar SAOG and Bank Muscat SAOG also appointed as issue managers.
With this IPO, OQBI parent company OQ SAOC, will complete the divestment of four companies over the past two years and listing them on MSX. The last, in October, was the listing of its exploration and production business, which saw OQEP raise $2.03 billion, in the sultanate’s biggest ever.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Brinda Darasha)
