Trowers & Hamlins advises on Oman Arab Bank S.A.O.G’s debut mandatory convertible bonds issuance

Trowers & Hamlins has advised Oman Arab Bank S.A.O.G. (OAB) on the issuance of up to OMR 10,016,460 unsecured, mandatory convertible bonds.

The purpose of the issuance is to distribute dividends to OAB’s shareholders following OAB’s robust performance, financial and liquidity position.

The bonds will be admitted to trading by the Muscat Stock Exchange on the Bonds and Sukuk Market.

Ubhar Capital S.A.O.C. (U-Capital) acted as the issue manager to the issue, and Trowers & Hamlins advised as transaction counsel on all aspects of the issuance. The Trowers team was led by partner and head of finance and capital markets – Oman, Salman Ahmed with support from Jonathan Grosvenor (senior associate), Rashi Jain, Kasab Vora and Reem Al Mahrizi (associates) and Fatma Al Mataani (trainee lawyer).

Ahmed commented, “We are delighted to have advised our long-standing client OAB on the issuance of their debut convertible bonds, and also to have again worked with a key player in capital markets in Oman in U-Capital. There was tremendous teamwork from all parties on all sides to bring this matter to a successful conclusion. There have been very few convertible deals in the Oman market, so it was a great opportunity for us to be involved on a deal of this complexity, combining both debt and equity elements. This issuance represents a significant and exciting milestone in the development of Oman bond markets. We are naturally very pleased to have been involved on this landmark bond issuance. This deal demonstrates our capital markets experience, particularly in the convertible space having successfully closed Bank Nizwa’s mandatorily convertible issuance earlier this year. We see continued growth for OAB and look forward to continuing our relationship with OAB and U-Capital.”