DUBAI: Sembcorp Salalah Power and Water Co, in which a unit of Singapore's Sembcorp Industries has a 60 percent stake, completed a 53 million rial ($138 million) initial public offer of shares in Oman, it said on Thursday.
The share sale, which ran from Aug. 28 to Sept. 26 and was arranged by HSBC Bank Oman, was "comfortably oversubscribed" by retail and institutional investors from Oman, Gulf countries and Europe, a statement said.
Public trading in the company on the Muscat bourse will begin on or around Oct. 10, it added.
The operator of a power plant and seawater desalination facility offered 33.4 million existing ordinary shares or 35 percent of its share capital at a price of 1.59 rials per share.
Oman and Emirates Investment Holding Co said earlier that it had obtained board approval to buy 1 million shares in the IPO.
David Guy, chief financial officer of Sembcorp Salalah, told Reuters last month: "What we're offering now is a plant with reliable assets and a very good business. The company is profitable and is expected to make 11 million Omani rials in 2013. We expect profit to hit 15 million rials by 2018."
He added, "This is mainly driven by paying down our financing debt. Our operating cash flow is largely stable." The company has a total debt of $713 million payable over 14 years, another company official said.
Guy said: "The Omani authorities are forecasting 6 percent annual growth in water demand and 12 percent growth in power until 2019. This growth, coupled with population growth, tourism and construction growth, is fuelling demand for more utilities."
He said, "The project founders will receive the IPO cash proceeds." (Reuters)
