Second phase of Omantel share sale oversubscribed

The public offer of shares in Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) to local citizens was oversubscribed 1.05 times, with a demand for nearly 75 million shares against 71.25 million shares on offer. According to a statement published on the Muscat Securities Market, total collections in the public offer were OMR101.4 million (USD262.6 million) against the issue size of OMR96.2 million for offered shares. The public offer followed the completion of the initial stage of the Omani government’s divestment of a 19% stake in Omantel, which comprised a private placement of 71.25 million shares open to Omani individual and institutional investors based on a book-building approach. Overall, with the first (private placement) and second phase (public offer) combined, the Ministry of Finance received applications for 216.7 million shares against 142.5 million shares offered, raising a total of OMR204 million. On completion of the divestment programme, the state’s ownership in Omantel will be reduced from 70% to 51%; 30% of the telco is already publicly owned.