Oman’s Sale Of 19% Of Omantel To Start Next Week

Oman will begin the sale of a 19 per cent stake in its former telecommunications monopoly Omantel next week, according to a report on state news agency ONA, which quoted a government official.

The government will offload 142.5 million Omantel shares, reducing its holding to 51 per cent from 70 per cent, said Saud bin Nasser al-Shukaily, Secretary-General for Taxation at the Ministry of Finance.

Half of these shares will be sold in a first phase starting next week. The minimum order will be 2 million shares and the phase is open to Omani individuals and institutional investors, the report said.

A second and final phase to sell the remaining shares will be open to Omani retail investors and will start at the end of March, it added.

Omantel’s market capitalisation is about $3.05 billion, according to Reuters data, making a 19 per cent stake worth about $579 million.