Monday 23 / December / 2024
Muscat: The initial public offering (IPO) of Ishraq Endowment Fund began on Monday after the approval of its prospectus by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The IPO targets an initial capital of OMR10 million. The subscription period will continue until 2 January 2025.
The fund was established in partnership with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, the Sultan Qaboos Higher Centre for Culture and Science and Bank Nizwa. Oman National Investments Development Company (Tanmia) was appointed as the fund’s investment manager.
The fund’s subscription has been designed to be available to both individuals and institutions. Individuals can subscribe with an investment sum of not less than OMR500, while companies can subscribe with a sum of not less than OMR5,000. An issuance premium of 20 baisas per unit will be applied to all subscriptions, with the unit value being OMR1.
The fund provides three types of subscriptions: (1) Permanent endowment whereby the endower chooses to endow money as a permanent endowment for charitable works and allocates the proceeds to a specific beneficiary like mosques, the poor, orphans or a charitable endowment, for the money to be spent on charitable and benevolent causes under the supervision of the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs; (2) The temporary endowment, which pertains to a subscriber who chooses to endow money for a specific period of time and allocates the proceeds to expenditures that the endower specifies upon subscription; and (3) The investor subscriber category, which relates to subscribers who seek to achieve financial returns through the fund’s investments.
Dr. Ahmed Ali Al Kaabi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ishraq Endowment Fund, said, “This initial public offering of the Fund embodies the innovation of investment in the endowment sector in the Sultanate of Oman. It aims to preserve the core values of endowment while at the same time contributing to enhancing the well-being of Omani society and economic development in the long term.”
He added that the subscription enhances the fund’s role in stimulating Sharia-compliant financial solutions to realise sustainable value for investors and communities. It emphasises the role of endowment as a fundamental pillar for empowering society, he explained.
