Omantel sukuk issuance opens for subscription

The subscription period for Oman Telecommunications Co's (Omantel) debut sukuk issuance will remain open until January 26, the company said in a statement. Subscriptions started on January 11. 

The 50 million rial sukuk is sold on private palcement to Omani and international investors and will be offered in the local currency and U.S. dollars. The minimum subscription amount is 100,000 Omani rials/$260,000. 

The sukuk carries a tenor of five years. Its profit rate will be set through a uniform price auction and finalised upon closing of the subscription period. 

Proceeds from the sukuk will be primarily used for building a new headquarters for the company as well as for other corporate pruposes, said Omantel.

The company has mandated Standard Chartered Bank as Sole Structuring Advisor, and HSBC, National Bank of Oman S.A.O.G. and Standard Chartered Bank as Joint Placement Agents for the issue.

Omantel's issuance will be the first in the country for a listed corporate following the debut sovereign sukuk in October 2015. Omantel plans to list the sukuk on Muscat Securities Market.

Oman's first corporate sukuk issuance was from Tilal Development Company, also for 50 million rials, in November 2013.

Omantel is the largest telecommunications company in Oman with a domestic subscriber base of over 4.3 million including mobile resellers. Its mobile network market share as at Q3, 2015 was 59 percent, according to the company.