India-Oman fertilizer asset floats USD 678 mn Muscat listing

The Oman India Fertilizer Company (Omifco) is set to raise up to OMR 260.9 mn (USD 678 mn) through an IPO on the Muscat Stock Exchange, as per its prospectus. Subscription kicks off tomorrow and runs through 25 June, with trading expected to begin on 8 July. This will be Oman’s first listing since the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

Offer details: Omifco is offering 1.6 bn shares, equivalent to 25% of its total share capital, at a price range of USD 0.3-0.4 per share — valuing the fertilizer producer at up to OMR 1 bn (USD 2.7 bn). Institutional investors will receive 60% of the offering, while the rest is set aside for the retail investors.

Advisors: Bank Muscat and Société Générale will be global advisers on the issue, with Arqaam Capital and United Securities as joint bookrunners.

India-Oman corridor asset heads to market

The backstory: Established in 1998, Omifco is a joint venture in which Oman’s energy firm OQ owns a 50% stake, while Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative and Krishak Bharati Cooperative each hold 25%. Between 2023 and 2025, India’s agrarian sector absorbed 71% of Omifco’s urea and 61% of its ammonia under long-term offtake agreements.

Why it matters: While the war has resulted in a near-total choke of the Strait of Hormuz, Omifco’s production facilities in Sur sit entirely outside the chokepoint on Oman’s eastern coastline. By supplying urea to one of the world’s largest importers through a long-standing bilateral partnership, the company maintained uninterrupted exports and capitalized on a four-year peak in global nitrogen prices.

Testing the war waters

Why the calculus holds: India’s 10-year offtake agreement with OQ Trading kicked off in February this year, with over half of Omifco's production flowing directly into a subsidized Indian government supply program. This locks in long-term cashflows for a company that already boasts a 40% net gain margin on its USD 802 mn revenue base.

Thawing a Gulf market freeze: While the war has led peer issuers across the Gulf to shelve listings, the Omifco IPO means exposure for investors to a key India-Oman industrial corridor asset at a time of spiking fertilizer costs and renewed focus on Gulf food-security supply chains. It is set to be an early test of regional equity-market sentiment in the aftermath of the war’s economic rut.

What’s next: Omifco is also evaluating a potential expansion that could significantly raise ammonia and urea production capacity, though no final investment decision has been made.