By Conrad Prabhu - MUSCAT — Takamul Investment Company SAOC, the majority owned downstream investment arm of Oman Oil Company (OOC), is set to acquire a 49 per cent stake in a new joint venture company that plans to establish a galvanized steel wire products plant in the Sultanate. Gulf Specialty Steel Industries LLC (GSSI) has been set up in partnership with Global Steel Industries Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based investment holding company BH Global Marine Limited.
GSSI’s high-tech plant is proposed to be established at Sohar Industrial Estate with an investment of around $30 million. The facility will be capable of producing around 60,000 tonnes per annum of galvanized steel wire products for use in, among other things, armoured cables and security fences. According to a statement issued by BH Global Marine at the weekend, GSSI has been set up with an initial issued and paid-up share capital of RO 2 million divided into 2,000,000 ordinary shares with a par value of RO 1 each.
While Global Steel Industries will subscribe to 1,020,000 shares, constituting 51 per cent of the share capital of GSSI, Takamul’s will secure 980,000 shares, which translates into 49 per cent of the share interest. Significantly, Gulf Specialty Steel Industries replaces another joint venture mooted two years by an Omani investment holding firm in partnership with BH Global Marine subsidiary Sky Wire (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Oman Sky Steel Industries LLC was proposed to be incorporated as a joint venture company with a remit to develop a similar galvanized steel wire products plant in the Sultanate. That JV proposal has since been shelved. Takamul was set up in 2006 to develop a sustainable downstream chain to support Oman’s industrial sector. Its core objective is to promote and invest in value-added economically viable projects that feed off local upstream industries that include metals, petrochemicals and minerals.
Takamul is 90 per cent owned by Oman Oil Company, with the remaining shares owned equally by Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority and Al Maha Strategic Industries for Investments LLC.
(Sourced from omanobserver.om)
