Nama group to hire banks to help raise $2b

Dubai: Oman’s Electricity Holding Co. hired JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank Muscat to advise on plans to raise about $2 billion this year, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The state-owned company, also known as Nama Holding, will raise the funds through a combination of loans and bond sales, said the people, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. Nama will use the funds to finance its projects, they said.
Oman, the biggest Middle East oil producer that’s not a member of Opec, is increasing borrowing as the government seeks to finance a budget deficit caused by low oil prices. The country plans to raise as much as $2 billion through bond sales this year and OMR600 million from local debt, an official at Oman’s central bank said in December.
JPMorgan declined to comment, while Bank Muscat didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The government appointed banks including JPMorgan, HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc to help manage the sale of international bonds and a local currency sukuk, people with knowledge of the offering said in January.
Nama holds the government’s stake in nine local electricity companies, according to its website. One of its units Oman Electricity Transmission Co. raised $1 billion in 2015 in a bond sale that was also managed by JPMorgan and Bank Muscat.