Prysmian raising stake in Oman Cables to boost sales

30/12/2015 07:52 AST

Oman Cables Industry's (OCI) portfolio and visibility is expected to grow inside the Sultanate as well as overseas with Prysmian Group's acquisition of the majority stake in the company, said the chief strategy officer at Prysmian.

Fabio Romeo, who is also the chairman of OCI, made the comments during a press conference hosted by the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Tuesday. It was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Salim Al Salmi, executive president of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and a number of other officials.

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has reached an agreement to increase its stake in OCI to 51 per cent, thus gaining majority shareholding.

According to the terms of the agreement, the group, which already owned a 34.78 per cent stake in the company, purchased an additional share of 16 per cent, for a total consideration of around ?100 million ($110 million).

Prior to becoming the majority shareholder in OCI, Prysmian Group had an existing, longstanding investment in this company through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Draka Holding.

During the press briefing, Hussain bin Salman bin Ghulam Al Lawati, a founder of OCI, expressed hope that the acquisition would benefit the company and the country in general.

Reasons
Romeo said that Prysmian Group had decided to raise stake in OCI for a number of reasons.

Oman is a country which is interesting for foreign investors as it provides a reliable and stable platform for business development, he said, adding that this area in general has a foreign-friendly investment environment.

Also, Oman has a tradition of developing the local workforce, which is important for Prysmian Group as well, the official noted.

Romeo also cited the good performance of OCI as ones of the reasons behind the decision and said that the group wants to focus more on becoming an 'industrial investor' rather than just a mere 'financial investor'.

Times of Oman