GCC investors eye $2.5bn Omagine Project in Oman

by Neha Bhatia on Jul 13, 2015

Omagine is a mixed-use development in Seeb.

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Investors, funds and banks from across the GCC have expressed interest in Oman's $2.5bn Omagine Project, spanning 100ha (1m sqm) in Seeb, developer firm Omagine LLC claimed.

Omagine LLC held meetings with sovereign funds, investment funds, and high net-worth individuals from across the region in the first half of 2015.

“During the past months several important tasks [related to the project] were completed," Agron Telaku, Omagine's vice president for finance said.

"We completed an independent third party update to our feasibility study and we also had our internal financial model updated by specialist real estate investment bankers and advisers. The updated feasibility study, land valuation reports and financial model have been invaluable in the numerous discussions we have held with many investors and major local and international banks.”

Telaku continued: “We have witnessed a large appetite for both investing in Omagine’s equity and for providing project financing debt facilities for the Omagine Project’s development. The banks with which we and CCC [Consolidated Contractors Company; two subsidiaries of which own 15% of the project] have met, have indicated that Omagine’s usufruct rights over the project land can and will be utilised as collateral to support project financing debt facilities.

"We have also met with several very high net-worth investors introduced by Mr. Drohan, Mr. Hamdan (Sam Hamdan, Omagine’s deputy managing director) and CCC, who have indicated a high level of interest in becoming Omagine equity investors.

"These investor discussions are ongoing," Telaku added in a statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.