Oman plans to privatise parts of several state-owned companies, including Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co (Orpic), Times of Oman has reported.
Orpic will release an initial public offering (IPO) as part of a major government scheme to sell stakes to the public, which will help reduce the Sultanate’s budget deficit.
Stakes will be divested either by way of an IPO or by selling ownership to strategic partners or a combination of both.
“There are serious talks at the Ministry of Finance to bring in some of the companies for share offers, but we have not received any formal application from them,” said Abdullah bin Salim Al Salmi, executive president of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), adding “but we have discussed it in general.”
Al Salmi spoke at the 34th International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO) African Middle East Committee Meeting and Conference in Oman on Tuesday
The planned privatisation programme will be carried out in the next three years, from 2015 to 2017, after getting the necessary approvals.
The Ministry of Finance will work on a plan to decide on companies and the timing of the sales, in co-ordination with the CMA.
“We need to prepare a time-frame to see which one is ready to enter the capital market first. We want to see as many companies as we can, but it depends on the government,” said Al Salmi.
Last year, the Oman government said they planned to make stakes in as many as 11 companies available to the public via IPOs but did not proceed with the plan.
Referring to the TruckOman IPO, Al Salmi said that the company would offer 40% of its stake, if the share offer to its employees and community companies is also taken into account.
According to Times of Oman, Al Salmi said the International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO) African Middle East Committee Meeting is of great significance since the market capitalisation of stock markets in the region is around $1,200bn.
