MUSCAT: An extraordinary general meeting of the Port Services Corporation (PSC) has unanimously decided to liquidate the company with effect from January 1, 2017, after the expiry of present concession agreement on December 31. The meeting of shareholders of majority state-owned port operator also decided to appoint Moore Stephens as the liquidators of the company, who will start their work from January 1, 2017 for a fee of OMR20,000.
The EGM of shareholders has also authorised the liquidators to conclude any settlement with the corporation’s creditors, and to accept arbitration on the corporation’s behalf, and to waive any insurance or any other kind of security for less than its full value, according to a disclosure statement posted by the company on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM). The EGM also authorised the liquidators to sell the entire assets and projects of the company, and to transfer them.
The move to liquidate the company was in light of the fact that the renewal of the concession agreement to operate and manage the Port Sultan Qaboos for another year (2017) will not be economically viable and will not generate adequate returns for the shareholders, the company said in a disclosure statement on the Muscat Securities Market in September this year. Majority state-owned Port Services Corporation’s revenue started declining substantially after the government shifted commercial activities of Muscat port to Sohar port in August 2014, in a move to covert the former into a full-fledged tourism port.
Oman government, which has 35.5 per cent stake in Port Services Corporation, recently transferred its stake to Oman Investment Fund. The EGM last week was attended by shareholders representing 69.32 million shares (or 72.94 per cent) out of 95.04 million shares, in its meeting held on December 7, 2016.
The Muscat Securities Market in a separate circular said that the shares of Port Services Corporation will be transferred to under-monitoring market from regular market, until the delisting date of December 29, 2016. Meanwhile, the shares of Port Services Corporation surged ahead by 9.96 per cent to 265 baisas, amid 1.87 million shares changing hands on Thursday.
