Oman’s second national telecoms operator, Omani-Qatari Telecommunications Company (Nawras), has set a share price range of OMR0.702-OMR0.902 (USD1.82-USD2.33) for its initial public offering (IPO), which will see 40% of the company’s shares listed on the Muscat bourse. According to a report by Reuters, Nawras is offering 260 million shares in Oman’s first IPO in two years; if the offer is fully subscribed, the company would raise OMR182 million at the lower end of the range and about OMR234 million at the higher end. All founding shareholders of the company, including majority shareholder Qtel, are expected to offload stakes on a pro-rata basis. Around 70% of the offering is open to individual investors with the remainder available to institutions. The final price will be determined on 24 October 2010 and shares are expected to be floated on 27 October. Nawras, which was founded in 2004 by a consortium comprising Qatar incumbent Qtel (which owns a 55% stake in the company), Danish counterpart TDC (15%) and a number of Omani investors (30%), has hired Morgan Stanley, Bank Muscat and QNB Capital as the managers for the IPO.
CommsUpdate reported in July 2010 that Nawras will offer 40% of its shares – a minimum requirement in the Sultanate – and will become the first Omani company to opt for a book-building process. The firm agreed to float in February, as required under the terms of its licence, but the government granted the operator an extension to September.