MUSCAT: OQ Exploration and Production SAOG (under transformation) (OQEP) has announced that, following the successful completion of the bookbuilding and public subscription process for its initial public offering (IPO), it has set the final offer price at Bzs 390 per share.
The final price is at the top of the price range of Bzs 370 to Bzs 390, reflecting strong demand from local, regional and institutional investors, including irrevocable commitments from six high-profile anchor investors to subscribe for an aggregate of 20 per cent of the Offering at the final subscription price, high quality investor participation and very limited price sensitivity in the order book. The IPO raised a total of RO 780 million (equivalent to $2.025 billion), pre-discount for Omani Individuals and RO 750 million (equivalent to $1.947 billion), including the discount for Omani Individuals in the Category II tranche.
Ahmed al Azkawi, Chief Executive Officer of OQEP, said: “We are delighted to announce the excellent results of the subscription process for our IPO. We are pleased that investors have recognised our exceptional track record in value creation, operational excellence, and financial performance and we look forward to the next phase of growth as a publicly traded company. The broad support received from both institutional and retail investors across both the Category I and Category II offerings is a testament to our business model, the high quality of our portfolio and our ambitious growth strategy, the combination of which presents a compelling value proposition now endorsed by the global investor community.” The company’s Category I and Category II offerings were oversubscribed by 3.4x and 2.2x respectively with limited order inflation and significant support and participation by a wide range of high quality international, regional and local investors orders. Investors in Category I offering will be allocated 29.8 per cent of their demand. Investors in Category II offering (small retail) will be allocated 100 per cent of their demand up to 8,000 shares and then 23 per cent of their demand above this level. Investors in Category II offering (large retail) will be allocated 32.6 per cent of their demand.
A total of 2.0 billion ordinary shares, representing 25% of OQEP’s issued share capital, were offered to investors. OQ SAOC (OQ) will continue to own the remaining 75% of the Company’s share capital immediately following completion of the IPO.
Upon listing, OQEP will have a market capitalisation of RO 3.120 billion ($8.1bn), making it the largest company on the MSX by market capitalisation, representing 25 per cent of the entire market capitalisation of the MSX, in addition to the offering size making it the largest IPO in Oman’s history. The IPO is 2.6x larger than the previous largest offering by OQ Gas Networks in 2023, and establishes a new benchmark on the MSX.
OQEP shares are expected to commence trading on the MSX on or around October 28, 2024 under the symbol “OQEP” and ISIN OM0000009759.
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