The public offer of Omantel shares to Omani individuals, the subscription for which closed on April 13, was oversubscribed with a demand for nearly 75mn shares, against 71.25mn shares on offer, for a subscription of over 105 per cent, Muscat Daily reported.

The total collection stood at RO101.4mn against the issue size of RO96.2mn, according to a disclosure submitted to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Wednesday.

Expressing his satisfaction at the results of the public offer, H E Saud al Shukaily, chairman of the Supervisory Committee for Omantel Divestment at the Ministry of Finance, thanked the investors for their good response to the government’s initiative to further privatise Omantel.

H E Shukaily said, “The objectives of this initiative were to increase ownership of Omantel among Omani institutional and individual investors, to enhance widespread public participation in the privatisation process initiated by the government, to enhance trading activities and energise the market, to enhance domestic investment in the national economy, and to maximise shareholder value.”