Muscat – Investor interest is gathering momentum with the commencement of subscription to the initial public offering (IPO) of The Pearl Real Estate Investment Fund (REIF).

The fund’s investment manager and issue manager Sohar International Bank has been holding several meetings with key investors to highlight the unique investment opportunity of investing in Oman’s largest Shariah-compliant fund.

The meetings were well attended by a wide cross-section of investor groups including institutional investors, high-net worth individuals and established family offices, according to a press release.

Oman Investment Authority (OIA) and its subsidiary Omantel are the promoters of The Pearl REIF.

Highlighting the positive response, Wahbi al Riyami, chairman of The Pearl REIF (representing Omantel), said, “The promoters of The Pearl REIF have made every effort to make the investment opportunity available to more investors, particularly attracting a wider participation from the retail segment. The pricing of the IPO has been structured to offer the common investor the opportunity to invest in a well-structured instrument, with strong underlying assets and robust long-term contractual agreements. I am pleased to note significant investor interest and confident of their subscription to the issue.”

Further elaborating on the strength of the offer, Aown Abbas al Bahrani, deputy chairman of The Pearl REIF and director of public markets at OIA, said, “The keen interest of the investor community reflects the key highlights of the offering, which are being the largest fund of its kind in Oman, marquee tenants, stable cash flow visibility and the backing of promoters who will continue to be shareholders of the fund.”

The Pearl REIF is offering 208,137,400 offer units at a price of 112bz per offer unit (including offer expenses of 2bz per offer unit) for subscription.

The Pearl REIF has projected an average distributable profit yield of 9.2 per cent, which compares favourably to other yield instruments in Oman such as term deposits, perpetual bonds or sukuk.

Investors can submit their subscription application for the IPO before October 30, 2022, through the electronic channels of any of the collection agents: Sohar International Bank, Ahlibank, Bank Muscat, NBO, U-Capital and United Securities.

All applicants must have an account and investor number with Muscat Clearing & Depository Company (MCD). Any applicant may apply to obtain an investor number and open an account by completing the MCD application forms.