OQ Gas Networks IPO oversubscribed multiple times

Muscat: OQ Gas Networks SOAG (OQGN), which is floating up to 49% of its shares, said on Wednesday that the portion of the offer reserved for institutional investors, representing 40% of the IPO size, has been covered multiple times at the maximum price of 140 bz ($36) on the first day of the book building process.

At the top of the price range, the IPO is set to raise $771 million from the sale of 2 billion shares, making the offering bigger than Oman Telecommunications' $748 million stake sale in 2005.

The book-building period runs until October 9 for institutional investors, while the retail offer for 9% is expected to close on October 5. The final price is due to be announced on October 12 with shares set to start trading on October 24.