The Prospectus for the forthcoming OQGN IPO, published on 18 September 2023, confirms that the OQGN share offer is Shariah-compliant. Given OQGN’s expected market capitalization of up to 606 million OMR at the top of the price range, the company is expected to become the largest entity on the MSX Shariah Index, when it lists in late October 2023. The addition to the MSX Shariah Index will of course be contingent on the completion of the relevant assessment by MSX post IPO.

In its Prospectus, OQGN details the pronouncement by the Shariyah Review Bureau, a Shariah Advisory firm licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, which confirms that, in its view, based on the circumstances as at the date of the pronouncement, the Offer is Sharia compliant in accordance with pertinent Sharia principles of the AAOIFI Sharia standards as of the date of the Prospectus. A copy of the aforementioned report by the Shariyah Review Bureau is available on the OQGN IPO portal for interested parties.

Notably, a relative outperformance of the S&P GCC Shariah Index in comparison to the S&P GCC Composite Index has consistently been seen in the GCC market over the last 5 years. This outperformance by the S&P GCC Shariah Index has mainly been attributed to (i) the presence of companies from resilient and defensive sectors; and (ii) relatively low leverage of underlying companies in the S&P GCC Shariah Index.

OQGN Vice President of Finance Khalid Nasser Al Qassabi said “Being Shariah compliant has been a fundamental part of our planning for this IPO.”.

OQGN’s IPO follows the new financing agreements signed by OQGN in June, 2023 with a consortium comprising of 16 local and regional banks in June this year, which was considered one of the largest syndicates of Shariah-compliant financing in Oman.