• Home
• /
• Energy

Three Muscat IPOs in pipeline for 2014

As many as three companies in Oman are this year expected to offer shares to the public as the Muscat Securities Market seeks to build on government plans to sell state-owned assets, the bourse’s director general said.

Oman Arab Bank SAOC is planning an initial public offering by the middle of the year, Ahmed Saleh Al Marhoon, MSM director general, said in an interview in Abu Dhabi. Another two private companies are also ready to sell shares, Al Marhoon said, declining to identify them.

Oman, the largest non-Opec oil producer in the Arabian Peninsula, plans to reduce holdings in some state-controlled assets in phases and MSM has held discussions with the government on IPOs in the energy sector, al Marhoon said.

Oman Oil Co, a sate-controlled energy producer, plans to sell shares of a subsidiary by the end of the year or early in 2015, he said. Oman Arab Bank has discussed IPO plans with the Capital Markets Authority several times. “This time, the Central Bank has directed the lender to just keep the promise they made to the CMA,” Al Marhoon said.

Oman International Development and Investment SAOG, or Ominvest, which holds a majority stake in Oman Arab Bank, said in a February 9 statement on its website it is “seriously carrying out a complete and thorough analysis” of an IPO of the subsidiary.