Published: March 31, 2015
Omani bank’s board gives green light to transaction; news follows regulatory approval of tier 1 issuance.
Oman’s Bank Dhofar is pushing forward plans for a rights issue, part of a programme to boost its capital and tap new funding sources in the coming months.
The bank’s board has approved a rights issue on the Muscat Securities Market to raise OMR45mn (US$116.8mn), and will now put the transaction forward for regulatory approval.
The bank recently received regulatory approval to issuer tier 1 instruments of up to OMR115.5mn. It also plans an international bond programme to raise US$500mn over the next four years.
Speaking to EMEA Finance about these plans earlier this year, chief financial officer Shankar Sharma (pictured) said international issuances from peers Bank Muscat and National Bank of Oman had encouraged the Bank Dhofar team.
“They paved the way and there’s quite a lot of interest generated by those [deals],” he said of his peers’ issuances. “Of course it’s all subject to the global markets and geopolitical conditions at the time of issuance as to what happens with pricing and so on. There are always economic cycles with the oil price and other [issues] will have a bearing, but this is our plan.”