EFG Hermes said that its investment banking unit has completed advisory on the $244 million initial public offering (IPO) of Oman’s Abraj Energy Services on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) – the Sultanate’s largest listing since 2010 and the second largest on a Middle Eastern Exchange this year.
The bank was a joint global coordinator on the IPO together with the National Bank of Oman and Ahli Bank. Abraj Energy, the oil and gas drilling unit of Oman’s state energy company OQ, began trading today on the MSX.
The company offered a total of 49% of its share capital, equivalent to 377.3 million shares, at $0.64 (OMR 0.249) per share. The share price indicates the top end of the book-building range and it was determined based on very strong oversubscription during the book-building process.
The IPO attracted demand of $2.05 billion (OMR 791 million) for shares from both retail and institutional investors, with the total book oversubscribed 8.7 times.
Oman’s Royal Court Affairs, the Saudi Omani Investment Company and Schlumberger Oman were cornerstone investors in the offering.
“Equally important to the success of the offering was the strategic interest from the Royal Court Affairs, PIF and Schlumberger Oman who were cornerstones to the book build and we are honored to have played an instrumental role in delivering these names,” said Karim Meleka, managing director at EFG Hermes’ Investment Banking Division.
The transaction marks the investment banking team’s second IPO this year and is the latest of several landmark transactions EFG Hermes has advised on in 2022, having closed 12 equity capital markets deals valued at $12.8 billion.
 for shares from both retail and institutional investors){kind=link}