OQ Gas Networks Soars 14% in Muscat #Oman After $749 Million IPO - Bloomberg

OQ Gas Networks Soars 14% in Muscat After $749 Million IPO - Bloomberg

OQ Gas Networks SAOG jumped as much as 14% on its Muscat trading debut after raising 288.2 million riyals ($749 million) in its initial public offering, Oman’s largest on record.

Shares in the gas pipelines business of Omani state energy firm OQ SAOC opened at 159 baisas on Tuesday, up from the offer price of 140 baisas. OQ sold about 2.1 billion shares, or a 49% stake, in OQGN and the listing drew about $10.4 billion in demand. That showed investor appetite for share sales in the Gulf remains strong, even after war flared up between Israel and Hamas earlier this month.

The debut comes as investors remain on edge about the risk of the war between Israel and Hamas spreading across the region, with implications for oil supplies. Brent has advanced about 7% since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas on concerns the conflict will drag in other nations including Lebanon, Iran and potentially the US.

But while IPOs elsewhere are succumbing to the heightened market volatility because of the war as well as higher interest rates, the Persian Gulf has so far held up as a bright spot. Oil driller ADES Holding Co. jumped 30% on its Riyadh debut on Oct. 11, just days after the attack.

OQGN is the second IPO in Oman’s privatization program aimed at boosting state coffers and expanding its stock exchange. Similar listing drives in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have raised billions of dollars over the last couple of years, defying a global IPO slump.

OQGN’s IPO edged past Oman Telecommunications Co. SAOG’s $748 million float in 2005 as Muscat’s largest.

OQ raised $244 million in the IPO of oil drilling firm Abraj Energy Services in March, the first in its privatization drive. Its shares have risen about 18% from the listing price.

OQGN’s IPO drew in Fluxys Belgium SA, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the Qatar Investment Authority as anchor investors who committed to buying a combined 30% of the deal.

Bank Muscat SAOG, Bank of America Corp., and EFG Hermes were joint global coordinators on the deal.