Muscat – OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP), which opened its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, announced that it has received final commitments from anchor investors to subscribe to shares worth up to RO156mn, at the upper limit of a price range of 390bz per share.

Azzan Mohammed al Abdullatif, Deputy Head of Public Subscriptions Implementation at OQ Group, said that 20% of the offering volume in OQEP IPO has been allocated to major investors from Omani institutions, including those with strong local reputations.

These institutions range from government and private investment funds to entities in the banking sector, Abdullatif noted. He emphasised that all these anchor investors are local, and this segment includes the Social Protection Fund, which is a significant investor with a stake of over 8% of the offering.

He told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the segment of primary investors in this offering is smaller compared to previous subscriptions, as a percentage of the total offering. He added that the volume of the individual segment has increased because it is the primary target of such subscriptions.

Abdullatif said that demand for the IPO is expected to be strong and a large number of investors from Oman are anticipated to subscribe. This will, in turn, enhance capital circulation in the country and boost activity on the Muscat Stock Exchange, he observed.

Abdullatif stressed that the offering structure is designed to allocate 40% offered shares to the Individuals Category, which is further divided into two equal tranches (20% for each tranche): the ‘Small Individual Investors Tranche’ (covering requests from 500 shares up to 28,500 shares) and the Large Individual Investors Tranche (accommodating all requests from individual investors starting from 28,600 shares, without a specified maximum subscription ceiling).

“This restructuring aims to provide fair opportunities for all segments of society, learn from previous subscriptions, give citizens an advantage, and encourage them to benefit from a 10% discount on the final price, equivalent to 351bz,” Abdullatif said.

ONA