IPO fever spreads to Oman: Omani state-owned energy company OQ SAOC raised USD 749 mn after taking public its gas pipeline unit OQ Gas Networks (OQGN), marking the sultanate’s largest-ever listing, writes Bloomberg. OQ sold a 49% stake in OQGN after pricing its shares at the top of the indicative price.

The details:The offering attracted roughly USD 10 bn in demand from investors. OQGN’s order book drew anchor investors, including Belgium’s Fluxys, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund (QIA). Retail investors received a 10% discount on the IPO price. OQGN shares will begin trading on the Muscat stock exchange on October 24.

Advisors: Bank Muscat SAOG, Bank of America, and our friends at EFG Hermes acted as the transaction coordinators, and Bank Muscat managed the issuance.

It’s been a busy few days for bumper IPO listings in the Gulf: Shares of regional oil and gas giant ADES Holding leapt 30% in their first day of trading on the Saudi stock exchange on Wednesday, closing the day at SAR 17.54. The IPO of the Public Investment Fund-backed company had been heavily oversubscribed, with the institutional tranche seeing nearly 10x more demand than there were shares on offer.

EGX30

20,002

+1.8% (YTD: +37.01%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 30.83

Sell 30.96

USD at CIB

Buy 30.85

Sell 30.95

Interest rates CBE

19.25% deposit

20.25% lending

Tadawul

10,586

+0.1% (YTD: +1.0%)

ADX

9,483

-1.1% (YTD: -7.1%)

DFM

3,965

-2.3% (YTD: +18.9%)

S&P 500

4,328

-0.5% (YTD: +12.7%)

FTSE 100

7,600

-0.6% (YTD: +2.0%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,136

-1.5% (YTD: +9.0%)

Brent crude

USD 90.89

+5.7%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.24

-3.2%

Gold

USD 1,941.50

+3.1%

BTC

USD 26,866

-0.6% (YTD: +62.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.8% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.97 bn (9.5% below the 90-day average). International investors were net buyers. The index is up 37.01% YTD.

In the green: Alexandria Containers and Cargo Handling (+16.0%), Orascom Construction (+8.2%) and Madinet Masr (+8.2%).

In the red: GB Corp (-2.0%), Heliopolis Housing (-1.7%) and B Investments (-1.7%).

Tags: