August’s star attraction in the regional primary market was a construction and engineering group from Oman. Galfar Engineering and Contracting started receiving subscriptions for its month-long public offering on August 12 and its IPO was the largest for the month both in absolute value — $156 million with 100 million shares offered — and even more so in relation to its home market, where the measure is the biggest new equity item in a good while. Analysts from GCC-based finance firms valued the offering highly. Based on the performance of peers in the construction industry, two finance houses — Gulf Investment Services and Fincorp — estimated the stock’s upside potential at 47-49% over the subscription price, despite its significant issue premium. Included in the offering price of 602 Baizas ($0.165) per share is an issue premium of 500 Baizas, which will provide the company with working capital and funding for
